


Fake It 'Til You Make It

by adenei



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:40:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29518224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adenei/pseuds/adenei
Summary: Football is life for Ginny Weasley, but when her school's football team is suddenly disbanded, she must figure out what to do next. Good thing her brother is heading to Germany for two weeks, giving her the chance to take his place at the rivalry school and prove her worth on their boy's team. It's a crazy plan, she knows, but she'll do anything to play football. The only thing she wasn't anticipating? Falling for her brother's roommate. Based on the Rom-Com She's the Man.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 43
Kudos: 30
Collections: RomioneCom





	1. Chapter 1

There was nothing Ginny Weasley loved more than the time that blended the end of the summer holidays and the beginning of the school year. Not because she was eager to return to school. No, that wasn’t it at all. The football season was beginning, and for Ginny Weasley, football was life.

Today was the last day before team trials would begin at Beauxbatons, the school Ginny attended. It was closer to home than the other boarding school in their county, and her parents didn’t have an exorbitant amount of money to pay for boarding. She was hopeful, though, that she might be offered a scholarship this year based on her performance.

So, she was treating today’s excursion with her friends in the park as one more practice session. They were playing a pick-up game, and right now, she was killing it. Her team erupted in cheers when she scored another goal, and her boyfriend scooped her up and kissed her hard on the lips.

“That’s my girl,” Michael Corner said.

The game ended and they headed back to the blankets that they’d laid out earlier.

“I’ve got a brilliant feeling about the upcoming season! The Beauxbatons’ girls team is going to be the team to beat this year,” Ginny commented as the rest of the girls agreed.

“Of course it will, babe! They’ll have you on their team,” Michael said with a wink in her direction. “It’s a shame they won’t let us play co-ed. We’d win the championship for sure! No question.”

Ginny leaned into her boyfriend’s strong arms as they enjoyed the last day of freedom. Yes, this was going to be the best year yet.

* * *

_ Okay, this was turning out to be the exact opposite of the best year yet, and it was only day one.  _ There was no way Beauxbatons cut the girl’s football team! Why would they do that? It made no sense. But judging by the way Angelina, Katie, and Alicia all had steam coming out of their ears, she knew it could be true.

“Well, if they disbanded our team, then we’ll attend trials for the boy’s team,” Ginny said determinedly as she led the charge to the field.

As they approached, they saw the boys warming up for training. Ginny did not hesitate as she marched onto the field. Michael saw her and began to run over, followed by several of the other boys.

“What do you think you’re doing,” the boy’s coach snarled.

“We’re here to find out why the girl’s team has been cut, Coach Snape,” Ginny demanded.

“The matters of the Beauxbatons girl’s football team mean nothing to me. Now, get off my field,” Coach Snape pushed Ginny out of his way.

Ginny was losing her temper now. “You can’t honestly tell me you don’t know the reason!” 

Coach Snape stared at her with a look of pure hatred as he contemplated what to do next. Ginny hoped he’d tell her. Finally, he spoke.

“If you must know, the Board of Directors cut the girl’s team so the money could go toward the Debutante program. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have football trials to conduct.”

Ginny was dumbfounded. Would she ever be free from that blasted program? She saw Michael give her a smug shrug as he turned to make his way back to the field. There was something about his ‘tough luck’ look that made Ginny retaliate.

“Let us join trials!” she shouted.

Coach Snape froze and turned ever so slowly to face her. “What did you just say?” His voice paused precariously on each word. 

“Let us try out for the team. We can play just as well as the boys,” Ginny pressed. The girls behind her nodded in agreement.

She heard Michael laugh. “Come on, babe, don’t be ridiculous. This is a boy’s team. You can’t play with us.”

“Oh, really? Weren’t you just saying yesterday how I play better than half the boys here? What happened to that attitude? You aren’t intimidated by my skills, are you?” 

Ginny felt her face flush with anger. Michael sputtered and spewed a bunch of nonsense, but not once did he come to her defense.

“Look, Ginny, the season opener against Hogwarts is in two weeks. We’ll never win if we let girls on the team. We’ll be the laughing stock of the league! I’m sorry about the girl’s team, I really am, but you’re crazy if you think you could play with us.”

Ginny gaped at him. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Well, you know what, Michael? You can have your precious football team. We’re over!” She turned to Coach Snape. “Please? Just one chance is all I’m asking for. I can prove that I belong on the team!”

“No girls,” Snape replied pointedly.

Ginny was left standing on the side of the pitch as Snape returned to the boys and continued with their practice as if nothing happened. Ginny could faintly hear her teammates saying how unfair everything was before she stomped off the field in anger. 

She fumed the entire way home. The sky matched her mood, threatening rain as she walked the short journey home. After what seemed like an eternity, the Burrow came into view. Ginny was looking forward to flopping on her bed and blasting music in an attempt to try not to think about this disaster of a day. She was a few paces from the gate when she heard a voice that made her cringe. 

“Ron? Ron! ROOOOOON!” 

“Bloody hell,” Ginny said under her breath. 

Her hand was on the latch of the gate when she felt a hand on her shoulder. “Ron, why are you ignoring—OH, hi Ginny, I thought you were—”

“Ron. Yeah, I gathered that. Sorry to disappoint,” Ginny spat annoyedly.

Lavender Brown was Ron’s girlfriend and had a bad habit of showing up at the worst times. Ginny wasn’t even sure why Ron kept her around. She was a needy, whiny blonde bombshell who always got everything she wanted, and she acted like she was better than everyone else.

“Well, have you seen him?” Lavender asked haughtily.

“Why would I have? Just because he’s my brother and I live with him doesn’t mean I see him all the time. Did you even bother to knock on the door?” Ginny pointed to the house. 

Ginny knew the answer before Lavender even responded. Lavender didn’t particularly care for anyone in the Weasley family aside from Ron.

“No, of course not! He said he’d meet me here. If you see him, can you—”

“Send him out to you? Yeah, yeah, sure,” Ginny said as she shut the gate.

She’d had enough of Lavender’s obnoxious attitude, and it wasn’t helping her sour mood.

“Wait, Ginny! You’re going to tell him, right? Right?” Lavender persisted.

Ginny waved her off as she heard Lavender shriek about why Ron wouldn’t answer any of her phone calls and messages. She couldn’t help herself when she turned around and said, “You know, Lav, maybe you should take the hint. When a guy stops answering your calls and texts and avoids you, it’s a telltale sign that they want to break up.”

That earned a scream from Lavender’s lips. “No one breaks up with me! It’s not over until I say it’s over! You have  _ no idea _ what you’re talking about and who you’re talking to!”

Ginny couldn’t help but chuckle as she went on her way, leaving Lavender in her little tirade. Finally, something was looking up for Ginny. Maybe her brother was going to chuck his pain in the arse girlfriend. Riling Lavender up almost made Ginny forget about the disaster at Beauxbatons. It was short-lived, though. When Ginny walked in the front door, she saw her mum sitting at the kitchen table with none other than Aunt Muriel, who had two poofy pink dresses laid out over the chairs.

_ Not this again. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What does Aunt Muriel want? And is Ron up to something, too? Read on to find out!

“Hi Mum! Hi Aunt Muriel. If you’ll just excuse me, I’m quite knackered. I’m going to go—” Ginny tried to skirt by them and make her way up the stairs. 

“Not so fast, Ginevra,” Aunt Muriel said with her nose up in the air. “We have matters to discuss.”

“Aunt Muriel, I know what you’re here for, and with all due respect, being a debutante is not who I am or who I want to be. I want to play football, not dress in layers of tulle and whatever that stuff under the skirt is called,” Ginny tried to explain for the hundredth time.

“Crinoline,” her mother corrected her. “Ginny, just sit down and hear your aunt out. Please?” Her mum was giving her a look that Ginny knew not to defy, no matter how rotten she was feeling.

“Ginevra, I’m well aware that the debutante lifestyle does not fit your... _ personality _ , but I am here to offer you a deal,” Aunt Muriel began.

Ginny raised her eyebrows, knowing her aunt always drove a hard bargain. She wondered what was in it for her since Muriel always had a trick up her sleeve to manipulate those to get her way. Unfortunately, being the only Weasley daughter meant there was no one else she could persuade to take her place.

“If you participate in the season,  _ without complaint _ , I will pay the boarding fees for you to stay on campus at Beauxbatons this year.”

Ginny couldn’t keep her jaw from dropping. Her aunt never offered anything like this. Why was it so important to Muriel for Ginny to participate in the debutante season? Aside from the fact that she was the prime age to participate, it was often a way for the teens to find a partner, one of class, and better standing. Honestly, the whole thing was bloody archaic, and she had no idea why it still existed.

That’s when it hit her. She was a bargaining chip. Muriel would use her to ‘restore her family’s ‘place’ in society.  _ You’ve got to be kidding me _ , Ginny thought. Sure, her parents didn’t make a ton of money, but they got by. Ron had just received a full scholarship to attend Hogwarts for their music program, and all of her older brothers were proving successful in their lines of work. They didn’t need Ginny to become a pawn in some ruddy game her aunt wanted to play.

“At the very least, please think about it, Ginevra. You are a natural beauty, and you could perform quite well if you allowed yourself to take a chance. As your family’s only daughter, you owe it to them to partake in at least one season. And, since that blasted football team has been disbanded, you’ve got nothing standing in your way this year.”

Anger flowed through her veins as Ginny felt as though she was going to explode. So her aunt had been behind eliminating the girl’s football team! All as a power play so that Muriel could live vicariously through Ginny. This was all so unfair! She needed the professional teams to start scouting her  _ this year _ , and now all her chances were being thrown out the window at becoming a professional football player because her bloody aunt wanted her to become a debutante.

“No,” Ginny said fervently. 

There was absolutely no way she was going to let Aunt Muriel manipulate her life. Not in a million years. Her mother put her head in her hands, and Ginny felt terrible for a moment. Mum would understand, though. Ginny had goals and plans for her future, none of which involved becoming a debutante or a trophy wife. That was not who she was, nor would she ever be.

Aunt Muriel let out a long sigh. “I had a feeling you’d say that. You’re lucky I won’t be deterred so easily. I will give you two days to think about this, Ginevra. Perhaps you’ll change your mind. What else are you going to do this school year without that useless sport?”

“It’s not a useless sport, Aunt Muriel!” Ginny argued.

“Be that as it may, I know how much you’d love to live on campus with your friends. I can give you that experience. You have my number if you change your mind.” There was an air of finality in Muriel’s voice that told Ginny the conversation was over.

  
“Does that mean I can be excused now?” she asked through gritted teeth.

Her mother nodded exasperatedly as Ginny stormed up the stairs. She tossed her things in her own room before heading up to the house’s top floor, where Ron’s attic room was. They both shared a mutual hatred for Aunt Muriel, and if anyone would understand her frustration, it was him. 

Ginny walked into Ron’s room and immediately started venting. “Ugh! I can’t believe her nerve” Ron jumped. 

“Whose nerve?”

“Aunt Muriel! Showing up here with those ridiculous dresses and trying to bribe me into joining the debutante season! I even think she had a hand in disbanding the girl’s football team at Beauxbatons. Can you believe it?”

“That’s ridiculous, Gin. There’s no way she has that much influence, even if she’s vindictive enough to do what it takes to get her way.”

“Why are you not more upset about this?”

“I am! I’m just, er, busy,” Ron said.

“Busy with what? Is that a bag you’re packing? I thought you weren’t leaving for Hogwarts until Monday.”

“I, er,” Ron stammered.

“Ron, what are you planning?” Ginny said as she closed his bedroom door. 

Despite being polar opposites, they never kept anything from each other. She always knew when he was up to something, and he knew the same. 

He rolled his eyes. “Alright, fine, but you can’t tell anyone!” he warned.

“When have I ever given away your secrets before? You know you can trust me.”

“I’m going to be a bit late for the start of term at Hogwarts.”

“Why?” Ginny asked skeptically.

“I’ve been invited to this music competition in Germany. It’s for two weeks, but I have to go, Gin.”

“But you just got a full ride to Hogwarts for your music! Won’t you be jeopardizing that if you take off for two weeks instead of starting on time?”

“Not if someone covers for me and says I’m sick or something. Maybe I’ve got mono or the flu, or...” he shrugged, not bothering to put more thought into a plan.

Not that she wanted to change the topic, but his mention of the ‘kissing’ disease reminded Ginny of her run-in with Lavender. “Speaking of, have you talked to your wretched girlfriend lately?”   
  


Ron winced. “Er, no, I’ve been avoiding her.”

“You don’t say. Must be why I got ambushed on my way back from school. If you’re going to chuck her, then you might as well do it sooner rather than later.”

“Eh, I’ll take care of it when I get back.”

“I don’t understand you. If Mum and Dad find out, they’ll pull you out of Hogwarts before you even have a chance to start!”

“So don’t let them find out. Please, Gin! I need to do this! This could be my shot at getting my music out there. It’s not that I don’t want to explore the classical route, but I don’t know how much I’m going to be able to focus on my own music at school.” Ron was begging Ginny now.

“How? I don’t suppose I could just dress up and pose as you for two weeks,” Ginny said in a bewildered tone.

Despite how ridiculous the statement sounded, the idea hit her full force. But there was no way she’d be able to pull it off, was there? Probably not. Unless….

“I don’t care how you do it. You just need to make sure Mum and Dad don’t find out. I’m going to tell them the auditions are tomorrow, so I’m leaving today. My flight leaves in five hours, so I have to get going.”

“How are you even paying for all of this?” 

“I’m staying at a hostel once I’m there, but Bill lent me money for the flight. I can pay him back if I place in the competition, and if not, then I’ll find a part-time job to pay him back.” Ron hoisted his bag on his back. “Listen, Ginny, I’ve got to go. The bus to London leaves in a half hour, so I really have to go.” He stuck one leg out his open window.

“Why are you going out the window,” she asked him slowly.

“Because Mum and Dad thought I left hours ago. I owe you one, alright?”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Just let me know when you get there, okay? And don’t get into any more trouble.”

“Thanks, Gin, you’re the best!” Ron said as he disappeared down the makeshift fire escape.

As Ginny watched him go, the wheels were turning in her mind. Ron was leaving for two weeks. That was just enough time for her to pose as her brother and make the Hogwarts team. Then, she could play in the Beauxbatons game and stick it to Coach Snape and Michael when Hogwarts won. 

She’d show everyone that she was just as good as the boys! Now, how could she just disappear from the house for two weeks? And that’s when it hit her: Aunt Muriel’s offer. She could totally juggle the boy’s training schedule and the debutante program. It’d be tricky, but doable. And she wouldn’t have to try  _ that  _ hard with Ron’s schedule. It’d only be a week of classes, and hopefully, she could fudge her way through the music courses.

  
_ I can totally do this, _ Ginny thought. She headed down the stairs to see if Aunt Muriel was still there to change her answer, and if all went well, she’d be on her way to visit Fred and George next.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who will Ginny enlist to help turn her into Ron? Will it be a successful transformation? And the moment you've all been waiting for - we finally get to meet Harry!!

Ginny set off across town after catching her aunt and agreeing to participate in the debutante ball. Unsurprisingly, Aunt Muriel already had a room reserved, as if she knew Ginny would relent. Ginny was set to move into Beauxbatons in two days, and had a lot of work to do to make sure she was prepared. So, she decided to visit the two people she knew would help her with her cockamamie plan: Fred and George.

In addition to owning their wildly successful joke shop, Ginny’s older twin brothers also dabbled in wigs and disguises for local theater productions and Halloween. If anyone could make her look and act like Ron, it was the twins.

“...Let me get this straight;  _ you _ want  _ us _ to help  _ you  _ look like Ron for two weeks?” Fred looked completely baffled when she walked into the shop and pulled them into their office.

“Yes.”

“Fred, I think our dear sister here has gone mad. Did you forget that he’s about a foot taller than you?” George chortled.

“Or the fact that he’s a boy?” Fred added.

“Will you two shut up and help me? I only have two days to pull this off, and there’s a lot at stake here!”

“Just one question, little sis. Where’s Ron going to be while you pretend to be him?” George cocked an eyebrow at her.

Ginny sighed deeply. “Will you promise not to say anything? Mum and Dad will literally kill him. And me.”

“We’re listening,” the twins said in unison. 

“He took off to some music competition in Germany. He’ll be gone for two weeks, so I’m going to pretend to  _ be _ him so I can make the Hogwarts football team, play Beauxbatons, and kick their sorry arses!” Ginny felt her face heating up as the anger threatened to return.

The twins looked at each other, no doubt having a silent conversation. After what seemed like forever, they turned back to Ginny. “We’re in.”

“Yes! Thank you! I knew I could count on—”

“You’ve got loads of work ahead of you, though,” Fred warned. “George, go tell Verity and Leah that they’re covering the floor. Gin, we need some time to get a wig ready for you, and I’m thinking some sideburns and thicker eyebrows, too. So we don’t waste time, go out and study the way guys walk and talk. You’re going to have to do all those things to blend in.”

Ginny snorted. “How hard can it be?”

It turned out it wasn’t as easy as she planned. Blokes walked a lot of different ways. She was out there for at least an hour, trailing behind random men and trying to copy their mannerisms. She only got caught once or twice before Leah waved her back to the shop.

“They’ve got everything ready for you!” Leah said brightly. “How’d the studying go?”

“Not great. Why do guys walk so weird?”

“Not sure, but if you ask me, I think it’s because of the…” Leah gestured below the belt.

“Ah, maybe,” Ginny agreed as Fred and George whisked her away into the office.

The next hour or so consisted of the twins attempting to fit her with various pieces of facial hair. She wasn’t sure who was more interested in what a moustache would add to the disguise, but it beat sitting at home, so she humored them. In the end, they opted for no facial hair and simply stuck with the wig, sideburns, and eyebrows. When they brought a mirror up to Ginny’s face, she almost didn’t believe it.

“Holy shit, I really do look like Ron!” she exclaimed.

“It’s scary, isn’t it?” Fred agreed.

“For being seventeen months apart, you’d think you were another set of twins,” George commented.

“Before we forget,” Fred reached for something in one of the cabinets, “you’re going to need this.”

It looked like a wide ankle wrap bandage.

“What? Why?”

“Do you really need  _ us _ to explain that to you?” Fred asked sarcastically.

“You see,” George went on as he gestured to his chest,” you have certain anatomical parts that need to be disguised, too—”

“Alright, alright! I get it!” Ginny stopped him.

“We’ll come by the Burrow for dinner tonight and help you figure out what clothing you can reuse and pass off in your wardrobe,” Fred told her.

“And we’ll do you a favor and get you anything you don’t have tomorrow.”

“Thank you. I owe you both,” Ginny said sincerely.

Her brothers could be a right pain in the arse much of the time, but they always pulled through when she needed help.

* * *

The twins stopped the car outside the halls where Ginny would be living for the next couple of weeks. People were milling about everywhere, and for a split second, she was having second thoughts about whether she could pull this off or not.

“Is this too crazy?” she asked them.

“Not at all!” Fred reassured her.

“Seriously, Gin, if anyone can do this, it’s you. Now, get out of the car. There’s no way we’re going to let all our hard work be wasted,” George added.

“But—”

“Out! Don’t make us drag you,” Fred warned.

Ginny adjusted her tie and opened the car door. She stepped out and grabbed her backpack and two duffel bags. 

“Now, let’s hear your voice,” George asked.

Ginny cleared her throat and deepened her voice. “Yo, I’m Ron. What’s up?” She added in a head nod for good measure.

George nodded approvingly while Fred reminded her not to sound too ‘gangsta.’ “How about your walk?”

“Come on, I can’t do it with all these bags,” Ginny complained, but the twins eyed her expectantly. “Ugh, fine.”

She did her best to show off her walk for a few paces before doubling back to the car like she forgot something.

“Excellent! And last but not least, let’s hear the belch,” Fred asked.

“Ugh, you guys are gross,” Ginny said as she rolled her eyes.

“Ah, but you’re one of us now,” George joked.

Ginny swallowed a bunch of air and did her best to let out a loud burp. It wasn’t easy to manage on command, so the twins would just have to deal.

Both bobbed their heads back and forth as if contemplating whether or not she passed. Not that it mattered, considering she was about to head to Gryffindor hall in a few minutes.

“I think she’s ready, Fred,” George determined.

“I do, too. Now, remember Gin, if you ever have any doubts, remember that there’s a man inside every woman, and you’ll do just fine!” Fred advised.

Both Ginny and George gave him a look. “Ew, Fred, that’s gross,” Ginny said as she made fake retching noises.

“Er, yeah, I don’t think we should be giving her any ideas. Not that you should act on them while posing as a guy,” George agreed.

“You know what I meant!” Fred defended.

“Yeah, yeah, I need to get going. I’m pretty sure trials start today, and I need to get settled first,” Ginny said as she was about to head off.

“Keep in touch!” George told her.

“Yeah, let us know how things are going. We’ll be here if you need anything else. But don’t mess up the wig; it’s the only one we’ve got!” Fred reminded her.

“Noted. Thanks, guys!” Ginny said.

She turned and began walking through campus. Gryffindor Hall was close, but she had to make her way through the commons, and there were people to dodge everywhere. When she finally entered the hall, it was like a madhouse on her floor. That was saying something considering she lived at the Burrow, which was always bustling with excitement.

Various balls and other items were being thrown from room to room, music was blasting, and some idiot thought it’d be a good idea to go skateboard luging down the hall. She almost had her head taken off more than once, but she could handle it. After all, at one point in time, she lived with six older brothers. How hard could this be?

Finally finding room 205, she opened the door to meet her new roommate. If the bags hadn’t been slung over her shoulders, she probably would have dropped them. Standing in front of her was a tall, reasonably well-built guy with messy black hair and piercing green eyes. He was dressed only in a towel, and Ginny knew she was undeniably attracted to him.

“...Can I help you?” he asked, giving her an odd look.

“Uh, yeah, hi,” she said in her normal voice before realizing she needed to sound like Ron. Ginny cleared her throat and began speaking in the deeper voice she’d been practicing. “I’m your roommate. The name’s Ron. Uh, Ron Weasley.”

She held out her hand in an attempt to exchange pleasantries, but the shirtless guy simply laughed at her.

“Yeah, right. How old are you anyway?” 

She heard more snickering behind him and realized there were others in the room, too.

“No, really, I am your roommate. I, uh, skipped a couple of grades.” For once, being short and petite was  _ not _ on her side. 

“Um, sure, whatever you say. I’m Harry. Harry Potter.”

“Nice to meet you. D’you happen to know when football trials are?” Ginny asked, changing the subject.

“Er, yeah, they start at noon. You play?” Harry was clearly sizing her up.

“Yeah, I do,” Ginny answered defiantly.

He contemplated her a bit more before saying, “Alright, then. This is Seamus and Dean. They play too, along with Neville and Colin, across the hall. You might want to unpack and get ready if you plan on getting there on time.”

“Uh, yeah, right,” Ginny said as she turned around and set her bags on the bare mattress.

_ So far, so good,  _ she thought as she began unpacking her things. She’d make the bed later as she pulled out a couple of pairs of shoes and some of her athletic clothes. Ginny didn’t notice when one of her boots fell over, and a box of tampons fell out.

“What the bloody hell is that?!” Seamus shouted.

_ Oh, shit _ , Ginny thought. She needed to think fast. What the hell was she going to say?

“Oh, they’re um, they’re for—uh—bloody noses! Yeah, you’ve never used them?” God, she hoped this would work.

All three boys looked at her in horror as they shook their heads. Ginny was sure she was losing her mind as she pulled one out and opened it.

“Yeah! I mean, the purpose is to plug, uh—stuff, so it works the same way. Just up your nose instead,” she said as she shoved one up her nose.

She attempted a smile as they all looked at her as if she were insane. It was almost like a switch flipped as they all got lost in a fit of laughter.

“Er...forget I asked,” Harry said as he turned around and pretended to be busy with something else.

“Yo, man, your roommate’s crazy,” Dean sniggered as he punched Harry in the shoulder.

  
_ Well, _ Ginny thought as she went back to her unpacking,  _ things definitely could have been worse.  _ Yeah, it wasn’t that bad. At least that’s what she forced herself to believe.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Football try-outs, a meeting with the headmaster, and a run in with our favorite bookworm!

Ginny was standing in the lineup with all the other hopefuls trying out for the Hogwarts football team. They were all dressed in shorts and t-shirts since it was relatively warm out, but Ginny wore long sleeves and joggers in an attempt to mask her femininity. She didn’t have time to second guess her practice attire for much longer as the coach strolled onto the field. 

“Good afternoon, gentlemen.”

_ Wait, wait, wait. Coach McGonagall? But she was the girl’s coach at Beauxbatons! Did Hogwarts really hire her for the boy’s team?  _ Ginny’s thoughts were running faster than she could keep up.

“Where’s Coach Karkaroff?” Harry asked impatiently.

“Yeah! He said he had one more year before he retired,” Seamus spoke up next.”

Coach McGonagall simply held up her hand. “I do not know the reasons why your previous coach left this position, but I can assure you that you will work just as hard, if not harder, under my tutelage. Now, if we can get on without anymore blubbering, you are going to complete an assortment of drills and exercises so I can determine your skill level. Once trials are complete, I will be assigning you to first and second string. First string will play in the season opener against Beauxbatons, and second string will be on the bench.”

The boys all simply stared at her, unsure of what to think. Ginny was inwardly delighted because she knew the high expectations that McGonagall set for her team. 

“Let’s get started with ten laps, and then we’ll split in half for a pick-up game. Shirts and skins.”

_ Bloody hell!  _ Was Ginny ever going to catch a break? She raised her hand quickly.

“Uh, Coach? Coach McGonagall? I need to be a shirt, please.” Ginny said nervously.

McGonagall eyed disapprovingly at her. “And why is that?”

“I—uh—I have a skin condition! I’m allergic to the sun.”

“You’re—excuse me?” Coach McGonagall looked utterly bewildered.

“Yeah! I have to wear a special sunblock and limit my skin exposure. Hence—” Ginny gestured at her attire. ‘Got a doctor's note and everything if you need proof,” she lied.  _ Bollocks, why’d I say that?  _

“Erm, no, that won’t be necessary. You can be a shirt,” Coach McGonagall said curtly. “Now, ten laps around the field. What are you waiting for?” she shouted as she blew her whistle.

Trials were gruesome. Ginny couldn’t believe how much harder McGonagall was pushing the boys than she did with the girl’s team. Ginny was exhausted by the end. Between laps, agility drills, passing sequences, dribbling, and ten on ten games. Not to mention the push-ups and sit-ups and other strength training that she interspersed throughout.

Ginny was proud of how well she’d played and was hopeful that McGonagall would choose her for first string at the end of the session. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side. Coach handed her a yellow pinnie, along with Neville, the guy Harry had mentioned earlier, and two other blokes.  _ Damnit _ , Ginny swore to herself. All that for nothing.

She refused to let the outcome get her down. There were two weeks to improve and show her worth. Surely, McGonagall would be open to switching things up if she saw the effort.

“Decent job today. Now, hit the showers.”Coach McGonagall called.

Showers? As in, enter the boy’s locker room, and everyone uses those communal showers that you see in movies? Maybe they’d be more private. One could only hope.

Once again, luck was not on Ginny’s side. The showers were  _ exactly  _ what Ginny had envisioned, and she had no idea how to skirt around this. There was no way that could happen. What a joke she’d be, not even lasting six hours before her identity was exposed. She sat on the bench and watched some guys walk past in nothing but a towel, while others were happily stripping down to nothing. How were they just so free and open with everything?

“Are you showering, or are you allergic to water, too?” Harry called.

“Oh, I, um…” Ginny stammered.

“Weasley! Ron Weasley?”

Ginny jumped up. “Here! That’s me!” She called to the person in the doorway.

“The headmaster wants to see you. Now,” the person said.

_ Oh my god, they really  _ do  _ know already. Well, it was fun while it lasted, _ Ginny thought as she followed the person out of the locker room and to the administration offices. She was led into the Headmaster’s office and told to wait in one of the chairs.

Ginny sat down, and despite being exhausted from trials, her leg was bouncing up and down uncontrollably. What could the headmaster possibly want? How could they have found out that she wasn’t actually Ron already? Did one of Harry’s friends tip them off because of how weird she was acting? It was probably Seamus. He seemed like the type of prat who’d do something like that. Or maybe it was Harry. He was clearly already weirded out by his new roomma—

The door opened. “Ah, Mr. Weasley! Welcome, welcome. I’m Headmaster Dumbledore.”

“Er, hello,” Ginny said in the best male voice she could muster. “You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, yes! I love to welcome all of our new transfer students personally. I know that it cannot be easy switching schools in your last year, but I hear your musical talents are quite spectacular. Professor Flitwick has been anticipating your arrival for months. He was thrilled to hear you were finally able to transfer from Beauxbatons.”

“Er, right, thanks,” Ginny said.

She hadn’t checked her course schedule yet. She hoped there weren’t too many music-specific classes. She’d hate for her lack of talent to be the reason her brother failed after only a week and a half of classes.

“Anywho, I just called you here to welcome you and to let you know that if you need anything, anything at all, I will always be of assistance.”

“Well, thank you for the uh, warm welcome. Not to be rude or anything, but if that’s all, I should really head to the showers. Long day, sweaty practice, you know,” Ginny knew she was sputtering nonsense as she got up and headed awkwardly for the door.

“Ah, yes, of course! I didn’t realize you were also interested in football. You’re going to have a busy year, that’s for sure. Don’t forget about your studies as well. And a social life; ah yes, that’s important, too,” Headmaster Dumbledore added with a twinkle of his eye.

Ginny backed out of the room and subsequently knocked into another person who was walking by the office at the same time. The person’s books flew out of their hands, and they tumbled into a mess on the floor.

“I’m so sorry! Here let me get that for you.” Ginny apologized as she immediately bent down to help pick up the other person’s belongings.

“It’s alright. I should have noticed you weren’t paying attention to where you were going.”

Ginny looked up to see a girl around her age. She had delicate facial features and bushy brown hair. There was an understated beauty about her, and Ginny instantly knew that she was one of those girls that all the guys were probably interested in. She was fully expecting the girl to come off as rude, as so many of those preppy types did.

“Ah, I see young love may already be developing,” Dumbledore said as he poked his head out of his office.

Ginny looked at him incredulously before glancing back at the girl. Okay, so they were kneeling reasonably close together. Ginny finished picking up most of the books and stood up.

“Hey, nice shoes!” she said without thinking.

“Thanks! I found them at H&M,” the girl responded.

“Really? They have shoes there? I had no idea!”

“Yeah, in the back by the accessories,” she said somewhat shyly.

When the girl gave her a peculiar look, Ginny remembered she was supposed to be Ron.

“Er, yeah, that’s cool. My sister makes me go shopping with her sometimes, so I know the store well.” She hoped it was a good enough excuse. “I’m Ron, by the way.”

“Hermione,” the girl said.

“Nice to meet you. Er, here are your books,” Ginny held them out for her to take.

“Thanks,” she said happily. They stood there awkwardly for a moment before Hermione added. “Well, maybe I’ll see you around,” before she walked away.

  
Ginny nodded as she watched her go. Hermione seemed pretty cool. But then she turned around and flashed Ginny a smile.  _ It’s just friendly. It’s got to be friendly, _ Ginny told herself as she took off in the opposite direction.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's really hard to be one of the guys. Especially when you're being accused of encroaching on another guy's 'territory.' And then there's that small little issue of being unable to shower...

Ginny walked into the dining hall a few days after trials. She’d been doing her best to keep to herself and lay low to not attract any more attention. Harry seemed to be spending more and more time with the other boys on the team, and they never invited Ginny to join them, not that she cared. She spent her time getting to know the campus instead.

When she got bored, not to mention smelly enough, she’d catch a bus across town to visit the twins and shower at their place. The boy’s dorm showers were configured the same as the locker room, and Ginny couldn’t take any chances. Of course, now that classes had started, the time constraints wouldn’t allow her to take daily trips to the twins’ flat, so she needed to figure out how to shower at school. 

Ginny grabbed a sandwich and other various lunch items before searching for a table to sit at. She noticed Harry and the rest of the guys sitting across the room and decided to join them since there was an extra seat.

“Hey, my dudes, what’s up?” Ginny asked as she sat down.

They all stared at her for a moment before returning to their conversation.  _ Well, at least they didn’t get up and leave me here alone _ . She knew she sounded ridiculous, but part of her thought it was hilarious. It was worth all the flack she’d get from Ron once he returned. He needed some repercussions for taking off and leaving her to cover.

Ginny was drawn out of her thoughts when the boys grew quiet. She followed their stares to the food line where two girls in short skirts were swiping their meal cards. One of them looked like that girl Ginny ran into on her first day. Hermione, she remembered.

“Damn, they just keep getting finer with age, don’t they?” Seamus asked.

Ginny noticed that Harry had grown oddly quiet and slack-jawed. “Are you talking about Hermione? Oooh yeah, damn! That arse is fine, am I right?” Ginny said, thinking that’s what the guys wanted to hear.

“Hey! Don’t talk about her like that! She’s not a piece of meat,” Harry said defensively.

  
“Whoa, sorry,” Ginny backpedalled. “You into her or something?”

Nevile and Colin both snorted in laughter as Colin said, “Only for the last three and a half years.” 

Ginny looked at him. “And you haven’t made a move because…”

“She’s always had a boyfriend,” Harry sounded dejected.

“Yeah, but on the bright side, she and her college boyfriend are over now, so you’ll be able to swoop in and make a move when the time is right,” Neville reminded him.

“Why don’t you just go over and talk to her now?” Ginny was confused by their logic.

“Because she’s still upset over the break-up! Look how sad she is,” Dean sounded affronted.

“Yeah, you don’t just go over there and talk to the girl you’ve fancied forever.  _ Especially  _ if you don’t want to be the rebound,” Seamus agreed.

Ginny looked over at Hermione, who was now sitting at a table with her friend. Hermione happened to look up and lock eyes with her. She flashed a smile, which Ginny returned.

“Whoa, did she just smile at you?” Colin asked.

“Uh, yeah?” Ginny said. 

“What the hell, man?!” Harry punched her in the shoulder.

“What? It’s common courtesy to smile back, isn’t it? I’m not trying to steal her away from you or anything.” She was surprised how defensive the guys were getting over one girl. 

“Aw, what the hell is  _ he _ doing?” Harry said as he shook his head in defeat.

A guy with perfectly coiffed white-blonde hair and an impeccably starched uniform slid into the seat next to Hermione. Ginny saw her face immediately sour at his presence. Ginny commiserated with Hermione, who was doing her best to be polite, even though it was clear that she wanted nothing to do with him.  _ Been there,  _ Ginny thought.

“Who is he?” Ginny asked.

“Draco Malfoy. The most obnoxious goody-two-shoes in our year. He’ll literally do anything to get what he wants,” Neville explained.

“Ah,” something about the blonde bloke was rubbing Ginny the wrong way.

Draco must have said the wrong thing to Hermione. No sooner had he sat down and attempted to engage her in conversation, Hermione gave him a disgusted look, got up with her friend and walked away. All the guys at Ginny’s table laughed at his failed attempt as he shot them a nasty look.

“So, who’s looking forward to the Beauxbatons game?” Ginny changed the subject.

The group eyed her. “It’s just another game. We’re going to crush them like we always do,” Harry shrugged.

“Yeah, but it’s the season opener. Personally, I think it’s rubbish that I got put on second string. I really wanted a chance to kick their arses,” Ginny complained.

“Why do you care so much?” Harry asked.

“Oh, uh, my sister goes to Beauxbatons. Michael, her prat of an ex is on the team.”

“You have a sister?” Dean asked as Ginny nodded.

“Wait, which one’s her ex?” Seamus asked.

“The goalie and team captain.”

“Oh, that twat? He picked a fight with me last year,” Harry said. “He’s a joke, honestly. Thinks he’s God’s gift to football, yet he couldn’t stop any of my goals.” All the boys laughed in agreement.

“What’d your sister see in him anyway?” Dean asked.

“Not sure. He was a prick. She’s better off without him. So, what are you going to do about Hermione? Better get a move on. Otherwise, someone else is going to tap that before you get a chance. Am I right?” Ginny waggled her eyebrows. 

She thought she was reading them accurately, but all the boys just shook their heads and stood up to leave. Despite growing up with a household of brothers, Ginny was beginning to think she would never get the hang of ‘being a guy.’

  
  


It was almost midnight when Ginny decided to take a chance and head for the showers. The halls were quiet, and she hoped that since they had classes the next day, most of the guys were finally getting to sleep. Thankfully, the bathroom was blissfully empty, and Ginny sighed in relief. She started unwrapping the binder and set it on the counter as she spread her bag of toiletries and things about. Unfortunately, her solitude was short-lived.

“What do you think you’re doing?” 

Ginny jumped back in surprise and looked up to see the blonde-haired bloke staring incredulously at her. Thank goodness she’d kept her robe on and hadn’t taken the wig off yet.

“Excuse me?” She responded.

“Your stuff is everywhere!” he scoffed, picking up her towel between two fingers and tossing it at her.

“I...didn’t know that was a violation of anything?” Ginny retorted.

“Yes, it’s under code 31.7: Bathroom Etiquette,” he shot back.

Ginny lifted her hands in a gesture of mock defeat as she said, “Well, sorry, didn’t realize it’d be the end of the world if I spread my stuff out in a deserted bathroom.” She rolled her eyes.

“As you should be.”

She grabbed her things to go back to the room. Maybe four in the morning would be a better option. They’d all  _ have  _ to be asleep then, right? 

“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced yet. I’m Draco Malfoy, Dorm Director. It’d be best for you to stay on my good side if you know what I mean.”

Ginny could barely believe his nerve. She opened her mouth to tell him sod off when Harry walked in and overheard Draco’s warning to her. Draco didn’t hear him coming, and Harry lifted his towel and whipped Draco in the head with it. She couldn’t hide the chortle that escaped her lips.

“Leave him alone, Malferret,” Harry said. “No one cares about the rules in the dorm handbook.”

“You say that until you break one of them and get kicked out!” Malfoy defended.

Harry waved him off as Ginny said, “Well, this has been a riveting conversation, but I’ve got other places to be.”

She made a quick escape out the door as she longed for the day when she’d be able to shower when she wanted again. That night, Ginny fell into a fitful sleep filled with nightmares on the football field. Coach McGonagall called her onto the field, but she was dressed as her usual self. No, not just her normal self; she was wearing a poofy pink dress that she could barely run in, and Aunt Muriel was on the sidelines mocking her. She ultimately made a fool of herself, as everyone on both teams laughed at her. 

When she woke up, she was ready to throw in the towel. None of this was worth it. She was stuck on second string, her teammates thought she was insane, and she couldn’t keep up with Ron’s coursework. Professor Flitwick could have been lecturing them in a completely different language for all she knew. She had no idea how to read music, and even after poring over the texts, she still had no idea what chords were.

Yeah, she was done. Having Ron fake an illness was the easier way to go. The twins would surely help her cover, right?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Denotes a movie quote (it was too good to leave out)
> 
> Italicized lyrics belong to Ed Sheeran, not me, or Ron, for that matter. BUT I imagine musician!Ron to be quite like Ed Sheeran. Can't imagine why...

_ Wrong. _

“You’re not giving up, Ginevra,” George warned her over the phone.

“Yes, I am! This is the stupidest, pointless stunt I’ve ever tried,” Ginny was standing her ground. “Come pick me up.”

She’d almost made it a week. It was Thursday. Surely, she could fake Ron being sick for a week before he returned.

“When have you ever given up on something? That’s not like you. So you’ve had a rough week. That’s no reason to give up! We just need to get the guys to like you.”

“And how do you suggest I do that? Clearly acting and talking like the guys is not working in my favor.”

“Hmm. It’s Thursday, right? Are they going out anywhere tonight?” George asked.

“They mentioned something about the Leaky. Neville accidentally let it slip, and all the guys glared at him because I was in earshot. I probably wasn’t meant to hear.”

“I’ve got it!” Fred yelled in the background.

Ginny heard a bunch of muffled muttering before George came back on the line and said, “Text us the time, and we’ll be there with Verity and Leah. Be prepared to act like a player, alright? We’re gonna show those guys that you’re irresistible with the ladies.”

“If you say so,” Ginny said unconvincingly.

She hung up the phone, already dreading what the night was going to bring.

* * *

Ginny showed up at the Leaky Cauldron a little after seven. She looked around the pub and saw Fred and George in a corner. Her feet instinctively began walking toward them, but they shooed her off in the opposite direction. Harry and the rest of their teammates were on the other side of the room, so she reluctantly made her way over them instead.

It wasn’t lost on her when the guys were trying to rearrange themselves around the table so there wouldn’t be room for her. She was about to turn around and leave when,

  
“Ron? Ron! Is that you? Over here!” Ginny turned around to see Verity walking toward her.

_ Here goes nothing _ , she thought. “Verity! Hey girl, how you doin’?” she said as Verity drew Ginny into a sensual hug.

“I’ve missed you,” she said in her ear.

“I know, baby, I know. But you know how things are. I’ve been busy.”

“Will you be available soon? I’d  _ love  _ to get together,” Verity purred.

“As soon as I have a free night, you’ll be my first call, you know what I’m sayin’?” Ginny added in a head nod.

Ginny played hard to get as Verity puckered her lips and wrapped her arms around her to say goodbye. Verity settled for a kiss on the cheek as Ginny grabbed her arse, per Fred and George’s instructions. She watched Verity walk away before turning back toward Harry’s table with a newfound swagger. Her confidence was spurred on by the gaping looks on their faces. She made it about two steps from the table when she heard another voice call Ron’s name. This time it was Leah.

“Ronnie, baby, I thought that was you!” she said eagerly. 

“Oh, hey Leah, how’s it goin’?” Ginny asked.

“Why didn’t you call me after that night out in London?” Leah pouted.

Ginny gave her a perplexed look. “Babe, you know I have a strict one night rule. What we had was special, but I gotta stay true to who I am, and I’m not one to settle down.”

Leah gave a deep sigh. “I’ll always be here in case you get bored,” she resolved with a wink.

She leaned in and kissed Ginny on the cheek before turning around to sashay away. Ginny awkwardly smacked her on the bum as she walked off. Fred and George were high fiving each other, which Ginny took to mean the mission was successful. When she turned around, Seamus and Dean greeted her with a slow clap.

“Damn, Ron!” Colin said approvingly. “Teach me your ways!”

“I didn’t realize you were quite the, uh—” Harry started to say.

“Player?” Neville finished.

“Er, yeah,” Harry agreed. 

They all moved to make room for Ginny to sit down when she felt a buzz in her pocket. Fred texted her.  _ Code: Purple. Get out of there NOW. _

Shit, shit, shit. It couldn’t be—

“Won Won?” 

_ Fucking hell, of all the nights, _ Ginny swore to herself. Her phone buzzed again.  _ Do NOT let her see your face _ . This was not good. She began backing away as Lavender made her way to the guy’s table. 

Seamus, the good bloke that he was, offered an unintended distraction. “Hey sexy, if you get bored with Weasley, I’d be happy to show a good time.”

Ginny froze behind another table to see if she’d take the bait.

Lavender froze and eyed Seamus before letting out a grunt of disgust. “You have got to be kidding me. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but girls with asses like mine do  _ not _ talk to boys with faces like yours.”*

Ginny found it difficult to stifle her laughter. Lavender was undoubtedly full of herself. Before Ginny could think of all the reasons Lavender was not as hot as she thought she was, the blonde nuisance turned back toward her. 

“RONALD WEASLEY, DON’T YOU DARE IGNORE ME!” Lavender screamed, getting the attention of the whole pub.

Ginny darted toward the back of the restaurant and grabbed a menu to cover her face.

“Lav, leave me alone.”

“No! You’ve been ignoring me for over a week. Be a man and talk to your girlfriend!” 

One of the hosts took the menu from Ginny’s hands, so she spun around and grabbed two pitchers of Coke. “It’s OVER Lav. Why can’t you just take a hint? You’re not as hot as you think you are, and you’re too high maintenance for me.”

Ginny continued to move around towards the bar. She set the pitchers down as Lavender screeched, “IT ISN’T OVER UNTIL I SAY IT’S OVER, AND IT IS MOST CERTAINLY NOT OVER!” 

Lavender was closing in as Ginny made one last-ditch effort as she skirted between two tables just as another worker was carrying a large stack of boxes. Lav wasn’t paying attention and ran right into the worker, causing all the boxes to collapse into a heap as she fell backward into a random family’s table. A glass of red wine spilled down her front, and Lavender screamed bloody murder.

“THIS ISN’T OVER!” she screeched as she stomped toward the exit.

Harry, Dean, Seamus, Neville and Colin all erupted into cheers as Ginny fell back toward them.

“That was bloody brilliant!” Neville and Colin both shouted.

“How do you do it?” Dean wanted to know as Harry and Seamus looked on with impressed faces.

Ginny didn’t suppress the grin that spread across her face. She was finally one of the boys.

* * *

The next morning found Harry, Ginny, and Colin in biology. They were starting labs today as Professor Sprout called out, “Gentleman, come pull a name out of the basket to determine your partners for the semester. We’re going to start with identifying organisms under the microscope today.

Harry reached into the basket eagerly and pulled out a slip. “Please be Hermione, please be Hermione, please be—aw man, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Who’d you get?” Colin asked.

“Luna,” Harry said with an eye roll.

“Aw. Er, I mean—she’s not that bad,” Colin said.

The disappointment on Colin’s face did not go unnoticed by Ginny.  _ I wonder if there’s something more there _ , Ginny wondered as she looked at the blonde. She’d already heard plenty of stories of how she was odd from the guys. 

“Who’d you get?” Harry asked her.

“Huh? Oh, um—Ginny checked her slip—Hermione,” she said as Harry shook his head in disbelief.

“What the hell!”

“Sorry, bro,” Ginny shrugged. 

She walked over to Hermione’s table and sat down.

“Hello again,” Hermione said brightly. 

“Hey,” Ginny said as she set down her books. “So we’re, er, supposed to look for things in the microscope?” 

“Yes, do you have the packet from last week?” Hermione asked.

“Uh, yeah, in that notebook, I think.” Ginny gestured to the notebook.

Hermione shot her a playful smile as she reached for the notebook and looked inside.

Ginny was distracted by Harry attempting to work with Luna and the fact that Draco was hovering a little too close to them for Ginny’s liking. She didn’t see that Hermione had opened the book to one of Ron’s lyric pages.

“What’s this?” Hermione asked in amazement. “ _ So you can keep me inside the pocket of your ripped jeans. Holding me closer until our eyes meet. You won’t ever be alone, wait for me to come ho—”  _

“Nothing! That’s—uh, nothing,” Ginny snatched the notebook back. “Here’s the packet. She pulled out the papers they needed to complete their work for the day.

“You write song lyrics? That’s right, you’re here on a music scholarship, aren’t you?” Hermione said interestedly.

“Er, yeah. How did you…?” 

“I help out in the administration building, remember? I was working when you bumped into me last week,” Hermione reminded Ginny.

“Oh, right,” Ginny said. “Should we get on with the work?”

Hermione nodded as they began completing the assignment. There was no denying it; Hermione was definitely flirting with her. And that wouldn’t go over well. Not while Ginny knew Harry had his eyes on her. The bro-code was sacred. She’d have to play it cool and not let Hermione find any more of Ron’s lyrics. 

That evening, Ginny flopped onto her bed after a gruelling training session. She was about to pass out when a pillow hit her in the face. “What the hell was that for?” Ginny asked, tossing the pillow back at Harry.

“That was for flirting with Hermione today! You know I had my eye on her!” he snarled.

“I wasn’t flirting with her! Trust me, she’s not my type.” If she was being honest, she and Ron might make a cute couple, but Ginny was definitely  _ not  _ into girls. 

“Well, why was she giving you the flirty eyes?”

“I don’t know, man. I don’t know! I can put in a good word for you if that’s what you want,” Ginny suggested.

Harry froze and sat on his bed. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. You’d really do that? Talk me up, see if she’s interested?”

“Yeah, sure.”  _ Why not? _ Ginny thought.

“What do you want in exchange?” Harry asked her.

  
“Wh-what?” Ginny asked.

“It’s only fair—you help me out, I help you out,” Harry thought for a moment. “You wanted to play in the Beauxbatons game, right? What if I helped you train and get better? Maybe Coach McGonagall will move you up?”

Ginny’s face lit up with excitement. “You really think so?” She realized a second too late that her voice was too high. “I mean, you really think so?” she said again after she lowered it.

“Er, yeah.”

Ginny held out her hand. “Deal.”

As Harry took her hand in his, her phone rang. 

“Ah, bollocks, what does Mum want?” Ginny let it go to voicemail and listened to the message after.

“Hi, Dear! It’s Mum. I’m just calling to remind you about the carnival this weekend! Remember, you and your sister both promised to be there, and Aunt Muriel will have a cow if you’re not there. I’ll be expecting to see you, alright? Okay. See you Sunday. I hope Hogwarts is treating you well. Love you!”

“Ah, that bloody carnival,” Ginny said as she laid back on her bed again.

“The debutante thing?” Harry asked.

“Yeah, my aunt roped my sister into participating in the season. She’s not happy about it. And it looks like I have to go too for some ruddy reason.”

“My Aunt Petunia’s on the board, too. At least Hermione will be there! You can give me pointers,” Harry figured.

“Er, yeah, it’ll be great,” Ginny lied.

  
_ How in the bloody hell am I going to pose as Ron and me?  _ Ginny thought as she made a mental note to text the twins tomorrow. If she survived the day with Harry, Hermione,  _ and  _ Lavender, it’d be a miracle if it wasn’t a disaster.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the carnival! And FINALLY some Hinny vibes!

Ginny slung her rucksack over her back as she got out of the car and began making her way over to the carnival that was already in full swing. She had hitched a ride with Harry, and once through the gate, she needed to change back to herself and find her mum and Aunt Muriel. 

As they approached the entrance, Ginny noticed Hermione speaking to someone near the fortune telling booth. She caught Ginny’s eye and waved enthusiastically.  _ Here we go _ , Ginny thought.

“Quick! She’s coming over. What do I do?” Harry was panicking, and Ginny tried to suppress the laughter over his reaction.

“Hey, Ron!” Hermione said brightly. “I didn’t know you’d be here today.”

“Yup, my crazy aunt  _ insisted _ we be here,” Ginny scoffed, acting as if she were too good to be there.

“Well, I’m working the next shift at the kissing booth. Maybe I’ll see you there?” Hermione asked hopefully.

Ginny caught Harry’s murderous look out of the corner of her eye. “Uh, maybe. I think my aunt’s got me on a whole schedule today, so, er, don’t be too upset if you don’t see me.”

It was only half of a lie. She  _ would  _ be busy, but not because of Muriel. Who knew how many times she’d have to change back and forth?

They watched Hermione walk away before Harry rounded on Ginny again. “Dude!”

“What? I’m not gonna be rude, okay? But if you think I’m enjoying this, you’re wrong. Look, I actually do have to go find my aunt and get this over with. Trust me, I won’t be in the kissing booth line, alright?”

Harry shot her an angsty look before saying, “Fine.”

Ginny took off to find a place to change when she caught a quick glimpse of Lavender on the other side of the food carts. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered under her breath as she half broke out into a run to get to her destination.

Thankfully, one of the port-a-loos was open. She climbed inside the smelly enclosure and pulled out the royal blue dress that the twins dropped off for her. It was strapless and form-fitting, just how Ginny preferred her dresses. Not like the layers of poof and colors that didn’t compliment her hair that Muriel continued to pick out. Ginny stuffed the rest of her clothes and the wig into her bag, then pulled out the mirror and checked her appearance. She almost forgot to switch her sneakers out with the cute jeweled sandals she brought along, which meant she had to repack the bag so her shoes didn’t rest on the wig.

Ginny flipped her hair once more to give it some extra volume before exiting the port-a-loo.  _ Damn, it feels good to be a girl again,  _ she thought as she sought out her aunt. It didn’t take long as she heard the shrill ‘Ginevra Weasley’ call.

“Hello, Aunt Muriel, how are you?” Ginny put on a cheerful smile as she approached her aunt.

  
“It’s about time you showed up. I expect you’re enjoying your time on campus at Beauxbatons thus far?” Aunt Muriel raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow in anticipation of Ginny’s response.

“Oh, yes, very much so!” Ginny agreed. “Thank you so much for the opportunity.”

“Yes, well, your mannerisms are not fooling me, my dear niece,” Aunt Muriel said with a shrewd eye. “Do make sure this act stays with you for the rest of the afternoon. You are a debutante on display, after all.”

“Yes, Aunt Muriel.” Ginny was thankful that the sun was beating down, so the flush that was no doubt crossing her face could be blamed on the heat and not her anger.

“Run along now and go socialize, will you? Oh, and before I forget, I’ve signed you up for a shift at the kissing booth in,” she checked her watch,” forty-five minutes.”

Ginny bit back a groan as she nodded and turned on her heel. Just what she wanted to do with her first afternoon as a girl in over a week. Spend it giving out pecks on the lips to random boys and men who can’t get an ounce of action any other way.

She walked as quickly as she could away from her aunt, assuming she had enough time to change back into Ron for a bit before taking her forced post at the kissing booth. As she was looking for a place to change, she heard another unwelcome voice calling her name.

“Gin! Ginny! Over here!” 

“Go away, Michael.”

  
“Come on, baby. Don’t be like that.”

“Don’t be like what?” Ginny wasn’t in the mood to be tested.

“You aren’t still upset over the Beauxbatons team, are you?”

“Uh, yeah, actually. I am.”

“You gotta understand that boys and girls shouldn’t play on the same team. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

Ginny almost laughed at Michael’s feeble attempt to explain. “We’re done here,” she said, brushing past him.

He caught her by the shoulder. “Why can’t you just talk to me for five seconds? We can work this out, I know it.”

Ginny figured she’d humor him. “Hmm. Okay,” she held up her fingers in the air and began pulling them down one by one as she said, “You’re mental if you think I’d want to be in a relationship with a guy who doesn’t want to be beaten by his girlfriend on the field. There’s no way we’re getting back together, so grovel all you want. Oh, look, that’s five! If you’ll excuse me,” Ginny said as she smacked him firmly on the cheek and walked away.

She spotted a funhouse nearby and pulled out her tickets to enter. There had to be a dark corner in there where she could change again. Ginny emerged ten minutes later and double-checked her appearance behind the attraction. A sideburn was missing.  _ Where in the hell did it—there it is! _ It was stuck to the cuff of her long-sleeve shirt.

Ginny emerged from behind the funhouse and set off to find her teammates. After about five minutes of searching and no luck, Ginny gave up. She started looking for another place to change when—

“Won Won! There you are! We need to talk. Stop hiding from me!” Lavender whined.

Ginny spun around, searching frantically for a spot to hide. Miraculously, she saw the twins, Verity and Leah, near the bouncy castle. Fred was cocking his head toward the large inflatable, and Ginny set off at a run.

“Cover for me,” she hissed as she breezed past them and threw her bag into the vacated castle. 

Thank goodness the owner was on break. It took a couple of tries, but she finally managed to get in and furiously began pulling clothes out of her bag and ripping her outfit off her body. All the while, she could hear Lavender yelling at the twins to let her through. Thank goodness there were two of them. 

Ginny changed in record time. She simply ran her hands over the parts of her that were normally embellished with extra hair, and, satisfied she was good, she packed her bag and awkwardly disembarked from the bouncy castle.

Unfortunately, Lavender was still there. “Ginny? What are you doing? Where’s Ron? I need to talk to him!”

“Sorry, Lavender, you just missed him! He wasn’t feeling well, so he headed back to Hogwarts early,” Ginny shrugged convincingly. “What time is it?”

“2:58,” George eyed her curiously.

“Shite! I’ve got to get to the kissing booth. Better luck next time, Lav!” Ginny mouthed a thank you to the twins before heading for the center of the carnival.

She paused when she approached the back of the stage and noticed Hermione was there, finishing her shift. Ginny honestly felt sorry for her. She looked so uncomfortable up there, and the bloke that was currently taking his turn had this greedy, disgusting look on his face. 

Ginny looked around and then stowed her backpack under the skirt of the stage for later. When she turned her attention back to Hermione, it looked like the guy was trying to eat her face. He was clearly milking his turn, and Hermione seemed ready to vomit.

Ginny climbed up the stairs and interrupted. “Um, hi, excuse me. Sorry to er, break this up,” she looked unapologetically at the guy as Hermione was wiping her lips with her arm, “but I believe I’m here to relieve you.”

The guy looked like he was about to protest when Ginny shot him a death glare. He stood up and walked away dejectedly.

“Thank you so much,” Hermione said. She froze when she met Ginny’s hazel eyes. “Do we know each other?”

“I don’t think so,” Ginny said brightly. “I’m Ginny Weasley.”

“Hermione, Hermione Granger.” Hermione paused a moment. “Wait, you said Weasley? Is Ron your brother?”

“Yeah, he is. Why? Do you know him?” 

“I do!” Hermione said, her cheeks flushing red. “I was hoping that maybe he’d—er, never mind. Well, good luck. Just a heads up, the old gentleman over there that looks like he’s chewing gum?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s not gum,” Hermione shuddered as she walked away.

Ginny attempted to suppress her gag reflex and hoped he wouldn’t make it to the front of the line again. She sat down on her stool and looked up to see who she’d have the displeasure of locking lips with first.  _ Bloody buggering hell!  _ It was Harry. He looked thoroughly disappointed that he’d just missed his chance to kiss Hermione.  _ Well, sorry you’re stuck with me _ , Ginny thought.

Not that she was sorry. Harry was seriously attractive and definitely Ginny’s type now that she actually allowed herself to think of him in that way. She’d been compartmentalizing her feelings since pretending to be Ron. It helped her stay ‘in character’, so to speak.

“Don’t look so happy to see me,” she quipped as he sat down on the stool.

“Do I—Are you—Ron’s sister?” Harry gaped.

“Yes, I’m Ginny, and you are?”

“Harry. Ron’s roommate. Haven’t you talked to him recently?”

“Oi! Get on with it; the rest of us are waiting!” Some arsehole in the line called. 

“Guess we should probably kiss now,” Ginny said, somewhat shyly.

“Er, yeah,” Harry rubbed the back of his head nervously.

Both parties gradually leaned in until their lips met. Ginny felt as though her heart were about to explode. Kissing Michael never made her feel like this. It seemed like Harry felt something similar because they both began to deepen the kiss.

Harry attempted to pull away and mumbled, “We should probably—”

But Ginny cut him off and insisted on just a little bit more, picking up where they left off. Ginny could have spent the entire hour snogging him. Her gorgeous green-eyed, messy-haired roommate. Well,  _ Ron’s  _ roommate. He’d be fair game a week from now when Ron was back. She made a mental note to drop by and visit her brother frequently.

“Ginny! What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Harry jumped away from her quickly.

“And what do you think you’re doing, huh, punk? That’s my girlfriend you’re snogging!” Ginny had no idea where Michael came from, but he was really ruining the moment.

“ _ Ex- _ girlfriend! Go  _ away _ , Michael!”

“Whoa, back off, man. It’s a kissing booth,” Harry stood up and held up his hands, “I had a ticket.”

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t give you the right to snog her. Get your Hogwarts trash out of here,” Michael was posturing now.

“Please,” Harry scoffed. “You’re just a sore loser from last year’s game. Are you ready to get crushed again next weekend? I, for one, can’t wait to wipe the field with your sorry arse!”

Ginny barely moved out of the way before Michael threw the first punch. Harry ducked and immediately threw a right hook that collided with Michael’s face. Ginny’s stool knocked over, and both guys were on the ground, fists flying as the line chanted , “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

“Hey!” Ginny yelled. “OI! STOP IT!” 

Ordinarily, she’d reach right in and break them up, but she couldn’t exactly get between the two in a dress.  _ Where the hell are Fred and George? _ Just then, Ginny saw Aunt Muriel approaching. 

Muriel looked murderous as she lifted a bull horn to her face as Fred and George appeared and got in the middle of the scuffle, pulling the boys apart. “EXCUSE ME!” She waited until the fight had broken up before continuing. “The last time I checked, this is not how debutantes  _ or  _ their potential suitors should act. You should be ashamed of yourselves. The kissing booth was meant to be innocent fun. Because of your actions, I am officially closing it.” She turned to the line. “I’m sorry if you were waiting, but you’ll have to take your tickets elsewhere.”

The bullhorn let out a loud squeal as she turned it off. Muriel locked eyes with Ginny and nodded her head minutely. Ginny knew enough to follow.  _ This is not going to be good. _

* * *

Ginny entered her dorm room as soon as she’d returned to campus. Fred and George had grabbed her backpack while Aunt Muriel was scolding her for her involvement in Harry and Michael’s fight. Not that she’d had anything to do it! Apparently, after that ‘stunt,’ she was now on very thin ice; one more wrong move, and she’d have her boarding revoked. 

She tossed her bag on the bed and looked up to see Harry sitting on his own, with a tampon stuck up his nose.

“What the—” 

“You were right! These are bloody brilliant to stop nosebleeds. I can’t believe we questioned your judgement,” Harry said as he shook his head. “Where were you today, anyway? I swear we only saw you when we got there, and then you disappeared!”

“Er, I was busy with—uh—family stuff.” Technically, it was true.

“I met your sister,” Harry said, almost sheepishly.

“Yeah?” Ginny was interested to see what Harry thought of her.

“Yeah. I was, er, in line for the kissing booth—to kiss Hermione—and then your sister took over.”

“So, you kissed my sister?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you, uh, like it?”

“What? Why would you ask that? She’s your sister!”

“I—I don’t know! Making conversation?” Ginny said quickly.

“Well, it definitely wasn’t terrible…” Harry trailed off.

“What about Hermione, then?”

“What about her?” Ginny gave him a look that said,  _ really? _ “Er, I mean, she’s still hot, but so is your sister.”

“Alright, alright. Now I’m sorry I asked.”

Ginny watched Harry take the tampon out of his nose and toss it in the bin before throwing his head back on the pillow. “I’m hopeless when it comes to girls,” he lamented.

“Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know how to talk to them.”

Ginny snorted. “Really? You’re one of the hottest guys at this school, and you think you can’t talk to girls? Yeah, okay,” Ginny said through laughter. She backpedalled when she saw Harry’s shocked face. “I mean, I hear the girls  _ talk  _ about how hot you are. Not that I—you know what I mean.”

Harry ignored her comment. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Talk to girls?”

“I don’t know...I just do?”

“But how do you know what to say?” Harry asked impatiently.

“You’re overthinking it, man. Just start asking questions to get the conversation flowing. Ask about things that she likes. Like… bread! Do you like bread?”

Harry burst out laughing. “You can’t be serious!”

“No, I am! Here, pretend I’m Ginny. Ask me if I like bread.”

“You’re mental.”   
  


“Just try it!”

“Alright, alright! Do you like bread?”

“Why yes, yes, I do. Sourdough’s my favorite,” Ginny said in her normal voice as she batted her eyes.

“Whoa! What the fuck was that!” Harry said, backing up to the other side of the bed.

“What was what?”

“That—that voice!”

“Oh, uh, my sister and I are super close in age. I spent loads of time mocking her growing up, so I got good at mimicking her. Is it too much? I’ll stop…”

“No, no, it’s just —you’re really freaking weird sometimes, you know that?” Harry asked.

Ginny shrugged it off. “Do you want to practice or not?”

“Okay, fine,” Harry said as he refocused. “What’s your favorite subject?”

“I love English lit. You?”

“Er, math, I guess. I’d rather just play football.”

“Me too!”

“Would you like to go to the Leaky on Friday?” Harry blurted out.

Ginny chortled. “Smooth, real smooth.”

“I didn’t think it was that ba—WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!”

They both looked down to find a large spider cross the floor. Ginny wasn’t afraid of spiders, per se, but Ron was terrified. They both started yelling and jumped up on Harry’s bed to get away from it. They watched and carried on as it crawled toward them, and they jumped onto Ron’s bed to get away from it. 

Somehow they’d become a tangle of limbs wrapped around each other as they watched the spider crawl away under their door. Only then did they realize how close they were to each other, which spurred on another set of yelling.

“NEVER do that again!” Harry said.

“Bro, you were just as scared as I was.”

“I don’t care, just don’t—”

“SHHH!” Ginny said as she heard a voice outside their room.

“Dave! There you are! You gave me such a fright, escaping your enclosure like that. Let’s get you back where you’re safe!”

Ginny turned to Harry. “Was that Draco?”

“Ugh, yes. I didn’t know he had a pet tarantula,” Harry grimaced as he collapsed on his bed.

“Me either. They allow those here?” Ginny asked.

“Apparently.” Harry turned to face the window as he laid down on his bed. “Remember, we’re getting up at five for training before class tomorrow,” Harry reminded her. “And we’ll put in an hour after practice, too. Yesterday went well, but the more you get, the better off you’ll be.”

“Noted. Thanks,” Ginny said as she flipped over on her own bed.

  
_ Best not tell Ron about the spider _ , Ginny thought as Harry turned out the lights. Ginny had never been happier for sleep after the day she’d just had. Only six days left. Four days of classes, the stupid debutante luncheon on Friday, and the game on Saturday. Hopefully, she’d be promoted to first string by then.


	8. Chapter 8

Ginny was exhausted. Barely forty-eight hours had passed since the carnival, but between classes, training, and the extra sessions she was putting in with Harry, she barely had time to eat and shower before passing out each night. As she was on her way to science class, her phone rang. She could hardly believe who was calling her.

“You’re alive!” her tone feigned surprise.

“That’s an odd way to answer a phone call,” Ron responded.

“Well, when you leave the country, put your sister in charge of covering for you, and then don’t make any contact for ten days, one might just assume you’re dead.”

“Very funny, Gin. How’s everything going, anyway?”

“It’s going. No one knows you’re gone yet, so that’s a plus.”

“Brilliant! And Hogwarts hasn’t reached out?”

“Nope. How’s the competition?”

“Bloody brilliant! Gin, you’ll never guess what happened! I’ve placed in the top ten. Finals are tomorrow and I actually have a shot at placing. I can’t thank you enough. I knew this could be a break for me!”

“That’s great, bro. Really! You’ll be home Sunday, right?” Ginny wanted to be sure so she could make the transition without anyone knowing. 

“Why are you talking like that? And yeah, about that…” Ron began to say.

“—Ron! Hey, Ron!”  _ Fuck _ . Hermione was running up to Ginny.

“Hey, uh, I gotta go, alright? I’ll see you this weekend. Later!” Ginny hung up the phone quickly before turning to greet Hermione.

“Uh, hey, what’s up?” Ginny said after clearing her throat to make the voice adjustment.

“Not much,” Hermione said sweetly. “I saw you up ahead and figured we could walk together since we’re going to the same place.

“Er, right.”

“I haven’t seen you much since the carnival.”

“Oh, yeah. Been busy with training. Big game this weekend.”

“That’s right! You’re working with Harry to make first string for it, right?”

Ginny was surprised that Hermione remembered that small tidbit of information. In her attempts to talk up Harry, since that was their deal, she’d mentioned how awesome Harry was for helping her.

“Yeah. He’s a good bloke, you know.”

“Yes, I guess so,” Hermione half agreed.

“Why’d you say it like that?” Ginny inquired.

“No reason. I guess I just don’t know that much about him to give a firm answer,” Hermione explained.

“Would you ever consider going out with him?” Ginny asked. 

She knew that now was the moment to ask Hermione; especially since they were alone. At least then she could tell Harry she tried, even if it was a half hearted attempt. Ever since the carnival, she couldn’t stop thinking about their snog. Ginny knew she was developing a fancy toward him as she pushed aside the surge of jealousy that threatened to derail their conversation. 

“He’s not really my type,” Hermione said, pulling Ginny out of her thoughts.

“He’s not? I think he’s cool, and I’m not just saying that because he’s my roommate.”

“I guess, but he just seems so one dimensional, you know? He’s just here for football, and he gets by with school because he has to. At least that’s what it seems like. I prefer to go for the guy who is involved in a variety of activities,” Hermione said.

Ginny noticed Hermione looking shyly over at her and wondered what that was about.  _ Only 3 more days, _ she told herself. If Hermione did have a crush on ‘Ron’, which Ginny was seriously starting to suspect, she only had to deter her a bit longer. Then, she’d be Ron’s problem. Though, if Ginny thought about it, she definitely preferred Hermione over Lavender if Ron had to choose a girlfriend.

“Well, fair enough, I guess. Ready for an hour and a half of torture?” Ginny asked as she opened the door to the classroom for Hermione to pass through.

“Thanks,” she said through a smile. 

_ Another thing to check off the list _ , Ginny thought, resolving to tell Harry during their private training session later.

Her muscles ached from the countless full-field positioning runs, give and gos, and small-sided scrimmages that Harry put her through the night before. She’d made it another day, and Ginny would have been lying if she said she was looking forward to the free period she had that Thursday afternoon. But instead of using it for a nap, Harry had other plans, which was why she was now headed to the gym to lift weights. Who needed to lift weights, anyway? She was fit enough to run. Wasn’t that enough?

They were nearing the entrance when Ginny heard, “Mr. Weasley, a word?”

She turned to see Coach McGonagall pop her head out of her office. Ginny looked at Harry, waving him ahead as she doubled back to see what Coach wanted. She stopped outside McGonagall’s office and waited to be addressed.

“Your extra training and efforts have not gone unnoticed by me, Weasley. I’ve been observing your improvements in your formal and informal training this past week and am pleased with what I’ve seen. That’s why I’m placing you on first string for the Beauxbatons game,” Coach McGonagall said succinctly.

Ginny’s jaw dropped. Was she serious? “R-really?”

“No, I called you in here to waste my time. Of course, I’m serious! Now, go on. I’ll see you at training this afternoon. You have several plays to memorize,” she said sternly.

“Thank you!” Ginny said, almost forgetting to keep her voice low.

She took off, unable to wait to tell Harry the good news. Everything they’d been working on had paid off! She’d be playing in the game. She really was just as good as the guys!

Ginny pulled the door to the gym open with a little too much force and scanned the room for Harry. She found him at one of the weight racks and ran over, practically tripping on one of the machines along the way.

“Oh, hey, you’re here. Spot me, yeah? What’d Coach want?” Harry said when he saw her.

“She pulled me up to first string! I’m playing in the Beauxbatons game.”

“Whoa, really? That’s brilliant, mate! Bloody brilliant!” Harry held out his hand, and Ginny took it as Harry pulled her in for a hug, walloping him on the back.

“Yeah! It’s all thanks to you. I owe you one!” Ginny said as Harry sat back down on the bench.

“I’d say let’s go to the Leaky tonight to celebrate, but I actually meant to ask you about something else.”

Ginny shot him a confused look. “Progress with Her—”

“Shh! No, not that,” he said, cocking his head to where Hermione was working out with one of her friends.

“Sorry. What, then?”

“How would you feel about me asking your sister out?” Harry asked quickly.

Ginny was taken aback and had to fight hard to keep a grin from spreading on her face. “That’s cool. Do you need her number or something?” She inwardly winced, realizing that she probably sounded a little too eager.

“Er, yeah, that’d be great, actually. Wait, you’re really okay with this? You’re not going to like, attack me in my sleep or anything, are you?” Harry peered skeptically through his glasses.

Ginny snorted. “Yeah. Just spare me the details, you know? I don’t need to hear it. And don’t hurt her, or you’ll have to answer to any of her brothers, including me. But she’s feisty. She can handle herself.”

“Good to know,” Harry said, pulling out his phone.

Ginny took his phone from him to add the number as Harry reached for his water bottle. However, before she could finish, someone interrupted them.

“Hey, Harry,” Hermione said.

“H-hey,” Harry stuttered through a mouthful of water, haphazardly letting it fall and drip down his front. He was clearly not expecting her to come over and talk to them.

“How’s it going?” 

Ginny felt her face flushing red as she listened to the small talk. What the hell was going on? She knew for a fact that Hermione wasn’t interested in Harry. So, what was she on about? Harry was just about to call  _ her _ to go out on a date. Things were going so well!

“...how about you and I grab dinner at the Leaky tonight?” Hermione suggested. Ginny tuned back in just in time to hear that sentence.

  
“Whoa!” Ginny interjected as Harry was nodding. “Harry, don’t you already have that other  _ thing _ going on?”

Harry shot her a death glare as he said, “No, Ron, I don’t know what you’re talking about. How does eight sound, Hermione?”

“Sounds great. See you there,” she said before sauntering away.

“What the hell was that?” Harry spat at Ginny when Hermione was out of earshot.

  
“What are you talking about?  _ You’re  _ the one who was just going to ask out my sister!”

“Yeah, well, I’ve finally got the shot of a lifetime here, and I’m not wasting it.”

“Suit yourself, but I’m not sure you and Hermione really make sense together, you know? She’s spent all this time as your classmate, and this is the first time she’s speaking to you? Seems like a red flag to me.”

Ginny was frustrated beyond belief. Something wasn’t adding up, and she needed to talk to Hermione before she was too far away. “I’ll see you at practice later,” she said before taking off at a sprint after Hermione.

She caught her a short distance from the exit and called her name. “Hermione! Wait up!”

“Oh, hey Ron,” she said smugly.

“Did you really just ask Harry out? I thought you weren’t interested in him?”

Hermione glanced at Ginny with a peculiar look. “Weren’t you just talking him up the other day? Why the change of heart? You aren’t jealous, are you?”

She was definitely fishing. Ginny wanted to shout an adamant no because she was into guys, but she was pretending to be Ron, so she had to fake it still. “Wait, what? Er, I—um—”  _ Yeah, that sounded like the perfect Ron stutter,  _ Ginny thought.

“Well, it’s too late now. But maybe we could double? I think Luna’s free!”

As if sensing her name, Luna appeared as if from nowhere. “I am, actually! A date you say? With Ron? Oh, that sounds lovely! I’ve never been on a date before. What time?”

“Eight,” Hermione said triumphantly.

“Wonderful. I’ll see you then! Cheers!” Luna said brightly before walking away.

I rolled my eyes at Hermione. “You’re mental; you know that?”

“Ah, well. I’ll see you tonight, Ron,” she said, leaving Ginny alone on the walkway.

_ I jinxed it. I totally jinxed all of it,  _ Ginny thought as she waited outside for Luna to show up at the Leaky. She should have just called and canceled. Not that she had Luna’s number t—

“Hi!” Luna chirped. “Are we looking for anything out here, or is it time to go in?”

“Er, we can go in,” Ginny said as she opened the door. 

She really wasn’t in the mood, but maybe it’d only take an hour and then she could go back to the dorm and sleep. There were no classes tomorrow, but she had that ridiculous luncheon instead that Aunt Muriel was forcing her to go to. The only upside was being able to dress like a girl.

“I found them!” Luna said, walking away without bothering to wait for Ginny.

Her stomach churned until she actually saw the two of them. Hermione looked completely put off about sitting next to Harry, and he didn’t look very comfortable, either. So, what was the point of all of this, then? None of them liked the person they were there with; at least Ginny was pretty sure.

She slid into the booth next to Luna and watched as Hermione’s face immediately brightened. “It’s about time you two showed up!” 

“Daddy says you should always either be three minutes early or seven minutes late,” Luna explained.

Ginny did her best not to shoot her an odd look. As she looked around the rest of the Leaky to make sure there weren’t any familiar faces that might blow her cover, she noticed Colin, Dean, and Seamus over at another table. Colin was looking in their direction with a hint of sadness in his eyes.  _ What’s that about?  _ Ginny wondered before following his eyes to Luna.  _ No way… _

Forget a love triangle. Ginny felt like she was trapped in a love hexagon. Hermione liked Ron, who was actually Ginny. Ginny, who was supposed to be Ron, fancied Harry. Harry claims he fancies Hermione, but Ginny’s not convinced. Though, that could be her desperation for wanting Harry to like  _ her _ . And then she was there on a date with Luna, who apparently had a secret admirer in Colin. Her brain couldn’t keep up.

The conversation was stagnant. Harry was asking Hermione questions, but Hermione was only giving one or two-word answers. That was odd to Ginny since she was so used to Hermione not knowing when to stop answering.

“So...this is fun,” Ginny forced.

Harry rolled his eyes as Hermione looked around for a server. Luna just seemed genuinely happy to be out with other people. Usually, Ginny could fake her way through a situation like this, but it was proving difficult. She was trying to read whatever was going on between Harry and Hermione. 

He kept trying to put his arm around her, but Hermione would scrunch her face up in disgust. Harry couldn’t see it, but her flinching would cause him to retract his arm back to his side. Ginny was expecting to see a sad look on his face, but there was just confusion.

_ Good, maybe you’ll see that this was a mistake. You could have Ginny—I mean, me,  _ Ginny thought. She looked across the table when Hermione made a sudden movement.

“I’m so sorry. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I need to go,” Hermione said as she got up abruptly.

“But—” Harry said feebly. Hermione was already long gone.

“Told ya you should have picked my sister,” Ginny gloated.

Harry rolled his eyes at Ginny before sliding out of the booth and taking off, too. Ginny turned to watch him go and figured maybe her comment was in poor taste. She shifted awkwardly to look at Luna, who was now smiling happily at her.

“So is it just the two of us, then?”

_ Two. More. Days. _


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who's ready for a girl fight?! And some side romione? I know I am!

“How’s it feel to be a girl again?” Fred joked as Ginny emerged from their bathroom in a pale yellow sundress. 

She went to their flat to get ready for the debutante luncheon since she couldn’t get ready in Ron’s dorm room. It felt weird to her to wear makeup and style her hair again. Even for the carnival, Ginny hadn’t done either of those things since she had to switch back and forth into her ‘Ron’ disguise.

“Sod off,” Ginny said as she spun around to show off the flowy outfit.

“Are you excited to not have to put up with the charade anymore?” George asked as Ginny was double-checking her purse for all necessary items.

“Yes, and no,” Ginny said as she looked up from her bag. “What happens if I do well in the game? It’s not like Ron’s going to take my place. Even if he did, McGonagall would knock him back down to reserves. Not that it helps me, since I won’t be able to play anymore even when I return to Beauxbatons. Not to mention I actually like it at Hogwarts. I don’t really want to go back there after this.”

“You like Hogwarts or a certain  _ person  _ at Hogwarts?” Fred pressed.

Ginny flipped him off as she made her way to the door. “And to think you were asking me a serious question,” she rolled her eyes. “I need to get going before Aunt Muriel calls and has a hernia. I’m already running late. I’ll be back later to change and get my stuff.”

“Don’t get in any more fights!” George called as I walked out the door.

_ Very funny,  _ Ginny thought. A fight was the last thing she was going to look for. Not that she was even involved in the first one! Of course, if Muriel deemed something wrong today, it wouldn’t matter. Ron would be back Sunday, and all she had to do was get through the game tomorrow.

It took Ginny longer to walk the five blocks to the banquet hall because of the heels. She inwardly cursed her wobbly ankles, and decided that from now on, she’d wear flats or strappy sandals for everything. Heels were so overrated. She was rounding the final corner, knowing the venue would soon be in view, when she ran into another body who was also trying to cut the corner of the turn from the opposite direction.

“Sorry!” the voice said. 

“It’s fine, it was probably my fault, anyway. I’m running la—Draco?” 

Ginny could hardly believe who she’d just run into.

Draco squinted at her, as if he had no idea who she was. “Do I know you?” he asked skeptically.

“Yeah, I—” Ginny stopped quickly.  _ Shit! No, I’m me, not Ron! He wouldn’t know me. Oh, fuck, what am I going to do!  _ “I—I recognized you from one of the campus tours I took a couple months ago?” She didn’t mean to end her sentence as a question, but that’s what her inflection chose to do in her panicked state.

Draco instantly puffed out his chest to show off his pride, and Ginny relaxed slightly. “Ah, yes, well, please forgive me if I don’t remember you. I give many tours to many people.”

“No problem!” Ginny said quickly as she started to continue on her way.

“Wait a minute...you do look familiar, though,” Draco said quizzically, causing Ginny to pause.

She scrunched her face as if she knew she’d been caught as she slowly turned back to look at him.

“You aren’t related to Ron Weasley, are you?” Draco said in a rather demanding voice.

“I—er, yeah, I’m his sister. Listen, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m running late for something!” 

Ginny didn’t wait for Draco’s response as she took off in the other direction. Draco didn’t need any extra time to study her face and get any ideas. It was bad enough she’d run into him in the first place. She pulled out her phone and realized she was five minutes late for the luncheon.

“Muriel’s going to kill me,” she muttered under her breath as she crossed the street and entered the building.

She looked around frantically until she heard the sound of her aunt’s voice from the room down the hall. Ginny hoped she’d be able to slip in unnoticed and take the seat next to her mother, but Aunt Muriel clearly had other plans.

“Ah, Miss Weasley, so nice of you to finally join us.” Muriel’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. 

Ginny gave an apologetic glance as she slid into the chair next to her Mum. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as Muriel finished her opening speech.

Ginny looked around the room to see who else was there. Lavender was sitting at the table next to hers, and it looked like Lav was shooting her lofty glances.  _ Will she ever get over herself?  _ Ginny thought. 

As she continued scanning the room she saw another familiar face that made her want to throw up the lunch she hadn’t even eaten yet.  _ Hermione _ . The girl who’d ruined her chance to go on a date with Harry by getting in the way. She didn’t even  _ fancy  _ him! This luncheon was going to be the most miserable experience ever. At least the food would be good. 

No sooner had Ginny thought about food, that meals were being delivered by the waitstaff. Once the smell of the food wafted toward her, Ginny realized how hungry she actually was, and the nausea disappeared. She forgot to eat breakfast in her haste to get to Fred and George’s. When her plate was set in front of her, Ginny dug right in. 

She wasn’t thinking about manners or acting lady-like as she shoveled the food into her face. Her gaze was fixated on Hermione acting all prim and proper, and the anger began stewing within her. She picked up a drumstick and started chomping away when Muriel caught her eye.

“Ginevra Weasley!” she warned, “chew like you have a secret.”

In Aunt Muriel’s defense, Ginny  _ was  _ chewing with her mouth open. She managed to close her mouth and be more civil as she finished the rest of her meal. There was some downtime before the tea and cakes were brought out, and Ginny noticed Hermione get up and excuse herself from the room. A thought came to Ginny’s mind as she also excused herself to use the powder room, too.

She entered the fancy loo with her purse and walked over to the sink. Ginny figured she’d pretend to freshen up her makeup as she waited for Hermione to come out of the stall. Then, she’d fish for information about Harry. One of the toilets flushed, and Hermione emerged from the cubicle a moment later.

“Hi!” she said brightly. “You took my spot at the carnival, right?’”

“Yeah,” Ginny said with a smile. “You got out just in time, too.”

“Yes, I heard about that. At least you got out of that long line of kissing people, though.”

“That’s true,” Ginny said with a laugh. “Hey, you looked like you were waiting for someone to join that line. Boyfriend?”

“W-what? Me? Oh, no… no boyfriend. Though, I was hoping he might become something more,” she sighed.

“Oh? Another Hogwarts student?” Ginny pressed.

Hermione bit her lip, as if thinking about whether she wanted to divulge her secret. “I know that I barely know you, and this might be kind of odd since you’re his sister, but I fancy Ron. He’s just so sweet, and funny, and sensitive….” she trailed off.

“You do?” Ginny asked. She had a feeling, but since she’d been posing as Ron, Ginny figured Hermione wouldn’t outwardly tell him. Er, her. “Well, that’s bloody brilliant!”

Hermione’s face fell. “Is it? I can’t tell if he fancies me back. Do you want to know the barmiest thing? I invited his roommate on a date last night, and then convinced him to double so that I could make him jealous, and I think he was! But he never came after me or anything, so I’m at a loss of what to do.”

_ So,  _ that’s  _ why she asked him on a date. She really doesn’t like Harry! _ Ginny thought, suppressing a whoop of triumph. 

“Well, my brother can be a bit dull sometimes. You know what I think you should do?”

  
“What?” Hermione asked eagerly.

“Just go for it! The next time you see him, tell him how you feel. Lay it all on the line. You’ll never know until you go for it, you know?”

  
Hermione pondered Ginny’s words for a moment before nodding slowly. “You know what? I think you might be onto something. I’ve tried to be as obvious about my feelings for him as possible, and that’s not working. So, the next time I see him, I’ll—I’ll—I’ll kiss him! Right there on the spot!”

“Oh, um, are you sure you want to—” Ginny didn’t know how to finish that, but she was worried that Hermione might seek Ron out before her charade was up, and she really didn’t want to kiss her.

“Life’s too short, isn’t it?” 

Before Ginny could answer, one of the stall doors banged open, and Lavender walked out, looking furious. 

“You will do  _ no  _ such thing! He is  _ my  _ boyfriend!” Lavender seethed.

“Uh, last time I checked, he dumped you at the Leaky,” Hermione said smugly.

Ginny snorted at Hermione’s quick response, which unfortunately spurred Lavender on more. “You stay away from him. He’s mine!”

  
“What are you going to do about it?” Hermione asked as she cocked an eyebrow.

Ginny figured Lavender would just scream in frustration and stomp off, but something inside her must have snapped. She screamed alright, but she charged at Hermione, grabbing her hair and knocking her to the ground.

Hermione let out a loud screech as she hit the ground, and her arms and legs were flailing as she was trying to get Lavender off of her. Ginny looked on for a split second in stunned silence as she cursed Fred and George for jinxing the whole fight thing. She needed to help Hermione, who was still thrashing under Lavender, so she leaned over and attempted to grab Lavender by the shoulders.

Lavender, the slimy git that she was, managed to slip out of Ginny’s grasp, and Ginny lost her balance because of the blasted heels she was wearing. She didn’t give up, though, as she reached out again. This time, she used all her strength and managed to pull Lavender off of Hermione. 

More screaming ensued as Hermione charged at Lavender this time. Lavender quickly deflected her attention from Ginny as she was yelling at Hermione, calling her a slut and a homewrecker as her arms flailed in front of her. Hermione got a few good slaps in and shrieked, “He doesn’t like you anyway!”

I jumped on Lavender’s back when she looked ready to take Hermione out again, and that’s when the bathroom door swung open.

“WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?!” We all froze as we looked up to see Aunt Muriel in the doorway. “This is  _ not _ how ladies act! Certainly not ladies who are working to become debutantes. Get your hands off of one another this instant.”

Ginny slid off Lavender’s back and attempted to right herself. She knew her hair was a mess, and her dress was all crumpled. Lavender and Hermione also made feeble attempts to return to their pre-fight appearances. 

“Ginevra, a word,” Muriel said with a chill in her voice. Ginny followed her out of the loo and into the hall. “I warned you, young lady. This was the last straw. You will pack your things at Beauxbatons this weekend, and you’ll spend the rest of the year commuting from home. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Aunt Muriel,” Ginny said dejectedly.

“Honestly. I asked you to do  _ one  _ thing. One! And during both events, you manage to be in the middle of  _ two  _ separate fights. I’m trying to help you, Ginevra. Much as you may disagree with me, this isn’t meant to be punishment. You’d do well to keep in mind that you will still be expected to finish out the season. I don’t know what you were trying to play at, but you’re not getting out of this. Absolutely not. 

Now, you will go back into the dining room, finish your tea, and then get straight to packing. I will inform your mother, so she knows to expect you back home this weekend. I’ll see you at your brother’s football game tomorrow.”

Ginny looked up at her aunt. “My—my brother’s what?!”

“You heard me. Football game. That peculiar headmaster at Hogwarts informed your mother that he’d be playing in the game tomorrow, so we’ll all be there. Said he was quite impressed that Ron was not only studying music, but also active in athletics. Well-roundedness is so important these days, though I didn’t realize he tried out for the team…” Muriel was talking more to herself as she walked away, leaving Ginny trying to process her words.

Her family was going to be at the game. They’d know in an instant that something was wrong. This was not good. Not good at all. She needed to find Fred and George after this bloody luncheon was over. Less than twenty-four hours to go and everything was about to blow up in her face.

* * *

It was late, and Ron stepped out of the cab outside Hogwarts. He grabbed his duffel bag that he’d taken to Germany, and walked over to the boot to take out his guitar. He paid the driver and set his things down before taking out his phone. The car drove away as Ron went into his contacts and pressed send when he found the name he was looking for.

The phone rang for a minute before it went to voicemail. “Hey, Lav, it’s Ron. Listen, we really need to talk. I don’t know if Ginny told you, but I just got back from Germany. Now that I’m back, I need to do what I should have done a long time ago. This isn’t working. So, if you could call me back, that’d be awesome. Or meet me at Hogwarts this weekend. It doesn’t feel right ending things over a voicemail. So, er, yeah. Call me back.”

He hung up the phone. That was probably the worst message ever, but he needed to say it. He couldn’t keep dragging her along because he was afraid to end things. He picked his things back up, and opened the map to figure out where Gryffindor Hall was when he heard someone calling his name.

“Ron! There you are! Listen, you don’t have to say anything, but I just have to tell you this, alright? I fancy you. A lot, actually. I’ve been trying to drop hints here and there, and I only went out with Harry to make you jealous. I’m sorry about that. I should have been upfront with you from the start. So...here goes nothing.” 

The girl had a bookish look to her with bushy brown hair and soft chocolate brown eyes. She had a natural beauty about her, which was the opposite of Lavender’s constant need to be perfectly put together. Ron didn’t know how she knew him already, but he felt an instant attraction to her, and was extra thankful he’d just called Lav to end things.

Then, before he could say anything, The girl leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him. Her lips were soft against his, and he was secretly glad not to taste cherry lip gloss for once. He was about to drop his things and wrap her in his arms to continue their kiss, but then the mystery girl pulled away. 

“Consider that a good luck kiss for the game tomorrow. I know you’ll be brilliant! Find me after, okay?”

Before Ron could respond, she took off as quickly as she’d appeared. He was trying to wrap his head around what just happened before looking back at the map. What game was she talking about? He shook his head, figuring he’d sort that out later. Maybe it was the late hour, or perhaps it was that unexpected encounter with the mystery girl, but Ron knew one thing for sure. He was going to like it at Hogwarts.


	10. Chapter 10

“No, Mum, tell Muriel I am  _ not  _ wearing heels to the debutante ball— Because they make my feet hurt, that’s why! And they were only invented to make a woman’s arse look good—Sorry, but I’ve already ruined everything anyways, so I think I should have a choice in what I wear to this bloody event.—I’ll be home Sunday. —Yes, I’ll see you at the game tomorrow.”

Ginny was so consumed by her phone call that she didn’t notice Draco watching her closely from behind some nearby shrubs. She still had no idea what she was going to do about tomorrow. Hopefully her family wouldn’t be able to tell the difference from her and Ron in the stands. Ron wasn’t a terrible football player when he set his mind to it; he just wasn’t as competitive as she was when it came to the sport. Of course, that still didn’t solve the issue of how she was going to pretend to be two people  _ after _ the game ended, but she’d cross that bridge when she needed to.

Thankfully, her mum still didn’t suspect a thing. She’d called to talk about the upcoming ball that Muriel was still insisting Ginny attend despite the fiasco at the luncheon earlier that day. Ginny had returned to the twin’s flat to change back into her disguise before returning to Hogwarts later that evening. The campus was blissfully quiet, which was odd for a Friday. Either everyone was out, or the dorms were going to be rowdy. 

Not that she or the rest of her teammates could engage in any typical weekend activities yet. Coach McGonagall had given them strict orders to retire early for the night, and instated a curfew. If anyone was found out of their dorms past ten, they’d be benched in the morning. Ginny didn’t have a lot of time to get back before the curfew set in.

Finally making it back to the room with fifteen minutes to spare, she opened the door to see Harry pacing back and forth across the room.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“How could you do that?” Harry rounded on Ginny angrily.

“Do what?”

“You know what! You know I fancied her. Why’d you lie?”

“Harry, what are you on about? You’re not making any sense!” Ginny was watching him carefully.

Harry stepped closer to get in her face, and Ginny backed up into the doorway. “You kissed her! I saw you!”

“Kissed  _ who! _ ” 

“Hermione!”

Ginny burst out laughing. “No, I didn’t! I told you I’m not interested in her  _ whatsoever _ . You must have been seeing things!”

She looked up, fully expecting him to loosen up and admit it was just a joke, especially after how disastrous that ‘date’ with Hermione had been, but he looked even more furious.

“Yes, you did! I saw you outside the quad! You could have just been honest with me—”

“I  _ am  _ being bloody honest! I’m telling you I didn’t kiss her. You’re mental!” Ginny was becoming increasingly confused. 

She had no idea what he saw, but it certainly wasn’t her. Sure, she’d told Hermione to be honest with Ron when she was herself earlier that day, but she would have known if she had run into Hermione.  _ Which she didn’t _ . That’s why she stayed at Fred and George’s all afternoon; she needed to stay away in case Hermione came looking for her, er, him. 

Maybe it was time to come clean with Harry. He’d find out the truth this weekend, and she was starting to feel like she owed it to him to give him a heads up.

“I know it was you! You’re the only one here with red hair like that! Mate, if you’re gonna lie about it, then just go. I can’t be around you right now.”

“But—”

“Go!”

“Harry, just give me a chance to explain!” Yes, she was going to tell him. She just needed to get back into the room and shut the door so no one else would hear. 

“No, you had a chance already. All you did was deny it. I’m not listening to this. Better find somewhere else to go before curfew sets in.”

“You can’t be serious! Where am I supposed to sleep?”

“I don’t know, Hermione’s room?” Harry spat.

“I’m telling you I didn’t—” Harry slammed the door in Ginny’s face before she could finish her sentence.

What the hell just happened? Ginny looked around, unsure of what to do. She had seven minutes now before curfew, and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get back to Fred and George’s in time. Not that they’d even be home; she knew they were going out on dates tonight, and she didn’t have a key to get into their place. There was always the locker room, she supposed, as she started to make her way to the athletic facility.

“Hey, Ron,” a dreamy voice called from a bench as Ginny was hurrying over to the building.

Ginny stopped and looked around. “Oh, hey Luna.”

“You know that building’s locked, right?”

“Shit. No, I didn’t.” Ginny checked her watch. “Where am I going to go? I only have five minutes before curfew!”

“You can sleep in my room tonight if you want,” Luna suggested.

“Oh, I don’t know, I—”

“There’s an extra bed. I don’t have a roommate.”

She was giving me an odd look, but at this point, I had nowhere else to go, and time was running out. “Alright, let’s go.”

“Wonderful! I live in Ravenclaw Hall. Don’t worry, we’ll be there before ten.”

“Er, yeah, okay. Can we get going, then?”

Luna hopped up off the bench and began walking in the opposite direction with a bounce in her step. _I_ _really hope this isn’t going to backfire on me_ , Ginny thought as she followed dejectedly.

* * *

_ “You can’t be serious! Where am I supposed to sleep?” _

_ “I don’t know, Hermione’s room?” Harry spat. _

_ “I’m telling you I didn’t—” _

Draco watched from the cracked opening in his doorway from across the hall as Ron walked down the corridor, looking shell shocked that Harry had kicked him out.

_ Hmm, that was interesting _ , Draco thought, as he shut the door again. His neighbors across the hall had been causing such a commotion that he was about to step in, and if he was being honest, he was slightly disappointed he didn’t have to. 

There was something odd about that Weasley kid. Draco was convinced there was more to the story. Ron always acted jumpy and didn’t quite fit in. Not that that was a huge red flag, considering Draco didn’t fit in, either. But much to Draco’s chagrin, Hermione had taken an interest in Ron, yet it seemed Ron didn’t want anything to do with her. 

He had already approached the Headmaster about the peculiarities, but Dumbledore had dismissed his concerns. Draco had half a mind to go to him again after the whole high heel conversation he overheard, but it was after hours. He’d been warned before that contacting the headmaster after hours was only for  _ emergencies _ .

Draco picked up the pilfered copy of an old Beauxbatons yearbook and flipped through it, trying to find any new information on Ron Weasley. He stopped when he came to a page labeled ‘Senior Siblings’ and saw a familiar face there. The yearbook was from a couple of years ago, and the picture contained four Weasleys. Fred and George, Ron’s older brothers, were the seniors in the photo, but there was another sibling on the page — their younger sister, Ginny, who Draco had run into earlier. He was sure of it now after seeing this picture.

Two things stood out to Draco. The first was that Ron looked incredibly tall in this picture, and he was certainly  _ not  _ that tall in real life. Second, was the caption underneath. ‘Fred and George may be the twins, but their younger siblings Ron and Ginny could fool anyone with how strikingly similar they are, too!’ 

Draco went back to studying the height of Ron and Ginny in the photo; his mind whirring as he connected all the dots. He’d need more proof, though. Dumbledore wouldn’t simply believe him based on an old yearbook photo.

Suddenly, he heard another commotion in the hallway. There was a banging on the door across the hall. 

“RON! I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE. Open up, now! I’m not waiting until morning!”

Draco opened his own door a crack to get a better look.

Harry whipped the door open. “He’s not here! Go away,” he yelled before slamming the door in the blonde’s face.

“URGGGGGGGG!” She let out a frustrated scream. 

Draco opened the door wider. “You’re looking for Ron?”

She whipped around and eyed Draco up and down. “Yes. Have you seen him?”

“Maybe. I might be inclined to help you out if you do something for me too.”

She cocked an eyebrow at me. “I’m listening.”

“Why don’t you come in, and we’ll chat where other ears can’t listen,” Draco suggested, eyeing Harry’s door knowingly.

Lavender nodded in understanding.  _ Maybe I’ll uncover this mystery, after all,  _ Draco thought as he closed the door behind her.

* * *

Ginny woke to the sound of music that she’d never heard before. The sunlight was streaming in, but she didn’t recognize where she was.

“What the…” she lifted her head to see Luna sitting on the edge of her own bed, staring at her.

“Good morning!”

“What time is it?” Ginny asked. 

It had to be before nine. Ginny triple checked the alarm she set on her phone, so she wouldn’t oversleep. The game was at 11:00, and she had to be in the locker room for a team meeting at 10:00. She was reaching for her phone when Luna responded.

“It’s 10:30.”

“WHAT?!” Ginny said as she sprang out of bed. She frantically grabbed her phone and checked it. No, it couldn’t be dead! “Luna, why didn’t you wake me?! The game starts at 11:00! I’m already so late! No, no, no, no!”

Ginny was pulling on her shoes when Luna answered, “Mum believes that we should always wake naturally, on our own. You looked so peaceful, and I didn’t want to wake you. The music helped you come out of your slumber, though.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll be lucky if McGonagall puts me in the game now. I’ve got to go!”

Ginny grabbed her bag and phone and ran out the door without saying goodbye. She vaguely heard Luna call, “Good luck at the game,” as she bolted for the stairs.

She sprinted to the athletic center and adjoining stadium. Ginny could hear the warm-up music already playing.  _ Fuck! _ This is not going to be good. She hoped the wig was still intact since she hadn’t had a chance to check. 

The locker room was deserted when she entered. Ginny whipped open her locker, only to find her uniform not there.  _ What the hell? Where is it? How is this happening right now?  _ She grabbed the extra pair of shin guards and socks out of her back and changed into them before putting her cleats on. No one was around, so she decided to swap the binder out for the tight-fitting sports bra she’d packed in her bag. It was way more comfortable than the binder, and it still made her appear flat-chested.

She gave one more look around the locker room, making sure her jersey wasn’t with anyone else’s stuff. It wasn’t. In a last-ditch effort, she dug through her bag, thinking that maybe the twins had it packed for her.

To her surprise, none of her clothes were there, but there  _ was  _ a kit that was way too big for her. What were they playing at? Ginny shook her head. She didn’t have time to think about their pranks. Zipping the bag, she picked it up and slung it over her shoulder before running to the door that led to the stadium. 

Ginny hid just inside, trying to figure out what was going on on the field. The game had just started, and someone was out there in her Weasley jersey. It looked a bit small on the person, but then it was a bit oversized for her.  _ Was that…? No… _

Ron was on the field, playing her position. “When the hell did he get back? And why didn’t he tell me? No, no, no, this isn’t good! This was my chance! Ron!” she hissed, knowing full well he couldn’t hear her.

Ginny looked around desperately for a spot to hide that was closer to the field. The announcer’s box was a short distance away, and it had slatted coverage underneath that they typically used for storage.  _ That’ll have to do _ , she thought. She opened the door and ran over to the covered area to watch the game from there.

_ He doesn’t know any of the plays. This is going to be a disaster! _ Ginny watched the game, keeping a close eye on her brother. Ron was doing a decent job keeping up, but he kept missing the ball when someone would pass it to him quickly. He’d always played goalie whenever they had played at home growing up. Ron was a much stronger defensive player, and it was clearly evident. He hadn’t played in years since his focus changed to music instead.

If Ginny thought that was hard to watch, she had no idea what was coming. About halfway through the first half, a loud whistle sounded, and Ginny looked to see Headmaster Dumbledore making his way to the center of the field with Draco and Lavender at his heels.  _ Oh, this was really not going to be good _ .

Dumbledore lifted the bullhorn to his mouth ignoring the protests from Coach Snape and Coach McGonagall from their sides of the field.

“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt this fine season opener, but it has come to my attention that—you two are absolutely sure?—It has come to my attention that one of our students here at Hogwarts has been posing as someone else. Mr.—er, should I say—Miss Weasley, could you please come over here?”

“Oh, no…” Ginny groaned. 

“What are you talking about?” Ron asked as he approached the headmaster. “Lavender, what the bloody hell are you doing here? You don’t even go here!”

“And  _ you  _ don’t play football,  _ Ginny! _ ” Lavender shouted at him.

  
Ron snorted. “What? Why are you calling me Ginny?”

“Because you  _ are  _ Ginny, who’s posing as Ron for who the hell knows why!” Lavender retorted.

“Thank you, Miss Brown. I’ll take it from here,” Dumbledore interjected. “Unless you have proof that you are indeed Ron Weasley, and not Ginevra Weasley, who is posing as Ron Weasley, we are going to have to escort you off the field.”

“What? Of course, I’m Ron! Why do you all keep calling me Ginny? I know I’m not as good at football as her, but seriously, she goes to Beauxbatons! She’s not here!” He pulled at his hair.

“Prove it,” Draco said snarkily. 

“Prove it? Fine!” Ron shouted at Draco.

Without a single qualm, Ron dropped his pants in the middle of the damn football field.  _ Bloody hell _ , Ginny thought as she turned away so that she didn’t have to see her brother’s wang, which was hanging out for all the world to see. As she avoided the spectacle on the pitch, Ginny happened to notice her family in the stands. Her mum and dad looked mortified, Muriel was about two seconds away from fainting, and Fred and George were laughing hysterically.

“Well, then!” Dumbledore said, sounding slightly amused. “Er, you can pull your pants up now, Mr. Weasley. I believe that that will suffice enough. We’re so sorry to have falsely accused you of being your sister.” He was now looking sternly at Draco and Lavender.

“But! No! He has to be her! This doesn’t add up!” Draco was pleading as Dumbledore guided them off the field.

“Can we please get back to the game now?” Snape asked irritably.

“Yes, yes, carry on!” Dumbledore said with a wave of his hand.

_ Well, at least something worked out, especially knowing that Lavender and Draco were onto me,  _ Ginny thought.

She turned her attention back to the game. Ron held out for another five minutes on the field before McGonagall pulled him. Ironically, Hogwarts didn’t do much better with him on the bench. Halftime brought with it a 0-0 score. Ginny hovered at the edge of the enclosure, waiting for the team to head to the locker room for a debriefing. She had to get to Ron and switch back. 

By some miracle, he was the last one to follow the team inside, and Ginny was able to run out and grab him by the arm.

“Gin? What the hell?” he said as she dragged him back into the enclosure. “Why do you look like a shorter version of me?”

“That’s a long story that I don’t have time to get into right now! Give me my jersey back!”

“Your jersey? What? How are you on the Hogwarts team?”

“Okay, I’ll give you the short version because we don’t have a lot of time: You told me to cover for you. I wanted to play football, so Fred and George helped create a disguise to turn me into you. Mum and Muriel think I’ve been staying at Beauxbatons the past two weeks, but I’ve really been pretending to be you. By the way, you’re welcome for attending your classes and doing your work. Hopefully, you haven’t failed out of the music program yet.”

“You what?”

“Yeah, so anyways, I’ve worked really hard to make first string, and that should be  _ me  _ playing in that game to prove Snape and Michael wrong. Girls can play just as well as boy’s can.”

“Then how did Lavender and that other ferret looking guy and the Headmaster know? Gin, if that was you, you would have been—” 

“Screwed, I know. But luckily it happened earlier, not that I needed to see your... well, you know. Now, can I please have my uniform back?”

“What am I supposed to wear?”

“There are clothes in my bag. It’s almost like Fred and George knew you were home early…” Ginny was tapping her toe impatiently.

“Well, yeah, they texted me last night asking if I was going to be at the game, and I said I was. Said something about not wanting to miss it. Now I know why,” Ron explained as he pulled off the jersey and handed it to Ginny.

“I just want the shorts, not your pants, too,” she clarified as Ron rolled her eyes.

“Wait, so if you’ve been me for the past two weeks, can you tell me why some random girl ran up to me last night and kissed me?”

Ginny froze with the jersey half over her head. “Hermione kissed  _ you?!  _ You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“What?”

“Harry—your roommate, freaked on me last night, saying I kissed Hermione, when I most certainly didn’t! Now it makes sense! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home a day early?” Ginny hit him on the arm as she snatched the shorts and put them on. She didn’t have time to put on the long sleeve shirt or joggers she was used to.

“I tried to! But you hung up the other day before I could tell you.”

“And you couldn’t text me?”

“I  _ did _ , last night when I got to campus.”

“Ugh! Well, apparently my phone died, which is why I was late this morning.”

Cheers could be heard from the stadium, and Ginny looked over to see the team lining up at the door. 

“Quick, how does the wig look?”

“Er, fine, but Ginny. You’re forgetting about the massive height difference now.”

“Yeah, hopefully, no one will see it. It’ll be hard to see from the stands at least,” she shrugged. “I’ve got to go. You stay here until after the game.

“Hey Gin, is that girl, er, Hermione, you said? Is she available?”

“Yeah, and she fancies you quite a lot, so you’re in luck. Oh, and I chucked Lavender while I was you last week, too.” Ginny flashed him a mischievous smile before she joined the back of the line.

McGonagall was sending the team out to start the second half when Ginny called out. “Coach, please give me a second chance!”

“Weasley, you’ve had your chance,” McGonagall said without turning to look at her.

“Please? I promise I can  _ do  _ this! I was born for this! I’m begging you!” Ginny pleaded.

McGonagall set her jaw firmly. “Fine. I’ll give you two minutes, but if you don’t turn it around, you’re done.”

“You got it! Thanks, Coach!” Ginny said as she ran out onto the field.

  
“Weasley!” McGonagall sounded startled. “Weren’t you just—what happened to your skin condition?”

“Oh! Uh...I got new medication? Yeah, new medication!” Ginny ran off before McGonagall could say anything about her height.

The game resumed, and Ginny was in the zone. She was hitting her marks on all the plays. Her passes were crisp, she was able to out-dribble her opponents, and everything was going swimmingly until Harry refused to pass to her. They were driving towards Beauxbatons goal, and Ginny was wide open. 

“Harry!” she was calling, but he kept forging on ahead, determined to attempt the goal himself. 

Harry took the shot, but Michael blocked it. Ginny threw her hands in the air as Harry kicked at the ground. Even Colin, Dean and Seamus were looking at Harry in question. Ginny knew he was pissed at Ron, but he couldn’t let this affect the game, so she approached him.

“What the hell, man?” Ginny asked.

“What?” he said coldly.

“I was open!”

“So?”

“Look, you can brood all you want because Hermione didn’t choose you, but did you ever really like her or the idea of her? Not that any of it matters now. We have a game to play, so can you focus on that? And maybe pass to me if I’m open?”

“Why? So you can steal more from me?”

“Dude, it wasn’t me!” Ginny was getting in Harry’s face now, and it looked like they were about to fight.

“Stop denying it!”

“I’m not!”

“Hey, uh, Ron, weren’t you like...a foot taller before halftime?” Colin questioned.

“Yeah, why are you so short all of a sudden?” Dean asked.

“What is the meaning of all this!” McGonagall was storming onto the field. “Potter, I’m not sure what you’re playing at, but that was certainly not part of the drills we practiced this week. Start playing with the team, or I’m pulling you.”

“I’m not playing with him,” Harry said begrudgingly.

This was getting ridiculous. “Harry, I didn’t kiss Hermione! I can prove it!” Ginny shouted in her normal, female voice.

Ginny had no idea why she was more concerned with keeping his trust than the game right now, maybe because she knew she fancied him and couldn’t deny it anymore, but she figured it was time to come clean anyways. She would have been caught already if Ron hadn’t been out there instead.

“What’s wrong with your voice, mate?” Seamus asked.

“Nothing! This is how I normally talk. What you’ve been hearing is my fake voice.”

“Excuse me,” Snape was walking up to the group of us now as his team was enjoying the argument behind him. “Last I checked, we were here to play football, not have a tea party. Let’s get on with the game.”

Everyone was distracted by Snape that no one saw Ginny peel off the sideburns and thicker eyebrows. 

“Yes, can we please get back to the—Weasley? What are you doing?!” McGonagall exclaimed.

Ginny had just pulled off the wig and was shaking out her own hair now. “See?” she was looking directly at Harry. “I didn’t kiss Hermione. I’m not into girls.”

“Ginevra?!” Ginny flinched as she heard her aunt shriek from the stands.

“Ginny?” Michael said in shock. “What are you doing?”

“Playing football! Beauxbatons wouldn’t let me play, so I tried out for the Hogwarts team.” Ginny said simply.

“Disguised as a guy?” Seamus asked, sounding dumbfounded.

“Well, no one would let me play as myself, so…”

“Girls can’t play on boy’s teams,” Snape said with an evil smile.

McGonagall tutted at him. “Maybe at Beauxbatons, but at Hogwarts, we don’t discriminate based on gender. Now, if we’ve had enough of that, I’d like to get back to the game. We’ll discuss your position on this team after the game, Weasley, but for now, we have a game to win.”

“Please, Ginny, you don’t honestly think you can play against us,” Michael scoffed.

“Last I checked, I already have,” Ginny said. She refrained from flipping him off, considering she didn’t want to get carded.

“Wait...no one’s going to make her prove she’s a girl?” One of the Beauxbatons’ boys asked hopefully.

Ginny was pulling up her hair when she said, “What, this wasn’t enough? Hate to break it to you, but you won’t see anything but a sports bra if I lift my jersey.” She finished tying her hair back when she reached for the hem of her jersey. “But if you must know—” she lifted the jersey to reveal her black sports bra and bent over so they could clearly see her cleavage. “Happy?”

Ginny looked around — her teammates all had their eyebrows raised, seemingly impressed, while the opposite team were wolf-whistling and taking the mickey out of Michael for what he missed out on. Ginny didn’t care. She’d been watching Harry closely, who couldn’t seem to meet her eyes.

“Harry…”

“Not now. We have a game to play,” he said shortly.

“But…”

“You still lied. Just not about that.”

The ref blew the whistle, and the game continued. As distracted as she was, Ginny forced the thoughts out of her mind and focused on the game. Right now, her goal was defeating Beauxbatons, and she’d fight like hell to succeed.

Hogwarts managed to score a goal shortly after the game resumed, but Beauxbatons answered with one of their own. Things were turning into a stalemate, and time was running out. It got down to the last minute. Ginny was driving to the goal when one of the defenders purposely tripped her instead of going for the ball.

A penalty kick was called, and Ginny had a chance to make the game-winning goal. Michael was taunting her from his post, trying to get into her head. She looked around and caught Harry’s eye. He nodded ever so slightly, and Ginny knew what she had to do. They’d practiced this a hundred times.

The whistle blew, and Ginny ran at the ball. She kicked it hard into the right hand corner of the goal. It hit the post and bounced off just as expected. Harry had run up and was there to head butt the ball back to Ginny, who went for the roundhouse kick. Her foot collided with the ball and sent it soaring into the goal. Michael was still on the ground from diving into the opposite corner. The buzzer went off, and Hogwarts had won. She did it. She proved everyone wrong!

At that moment, everything was seemingly perfect. Michael was throwing a temper tantrum in the goal. Her teammates were high fiving and celebrating their win as McGonagall nodded approvingly. The crowd was flooding onto the field as Ginny saw Fred and George cheering her on from the stands and Ron leaning against the storage area she’d confined him to. He gave her a smile of congratulations before he began searching the stands for Hermione. Ginny couldn’t help but laugh.

  
Ginny wasn’t sure what she was expecting from Harry. Maybe a hug or some communication, but he kept his distance. She hadn’t wanted him to find out like this, and she hoped he’d give her a chance to explain. It wasn’t looking likely, though, as he purposely kept to the opposite side of the celebration as Ginny and wouldn’t meet her eye.  _ Well,  _ Ginny thought,  _ I guess I wasn’t going to come out of this with everything I wanted _ , but she couldn’t help the pang of hurt and disappointment she felt from Harry’s distance.


End file.
